The trustee world is changing with a recent explosion of professional trustees and professional corporate sole trustees. This comes alongside an increasingly challenging environment for lay trustees with an ever-evolving regulatory landscape. With all these changes and developments what does the future of trusteeship hold?

This session will address:

• What will happen with the increased professionalisation of the trustee market
• What shifts and trends are we seeing within the professional corporate sole trustee market
• How do we support lay trustees and ensure that diversity remains on trustee boards
• How will recent government roles affect the trustee role
  

In the last 18 months Clara-Pensions has welcomed its first 21,000 members, offering a new route to greater pension security through consolidation. This session will reflect on the lessons learned from these early months of looking after and communicating with members from different schemes, backgrounds, and levels of security. The Clara team will discuss the practical challenges of transferring members to the superfund, the role of Clara’s governance structures, and communicating to members about Clara’s proposition itself. The discussion will explore what ‘member first’ really means and how Clara is building its community.

In the crowded race to buyout, securing a good deal is becoming ever more complex for pension schemes – and data quality is becoming a key differentiator to ensure a smooth and best price transaction. Why then, has new research from Professional Pensions and Lexis Nexis, revealed so many pension schemes continue to grapple with incomplete data, member engagement and more. The research also reveals:

• a growing tension related to poor data quality including a mismatch between data quality and data completeness
• challenges in tracking data quality and implementing new procedures to cleanse data
• a lack of understanding in regards to the cost of poor data
  

As schemes continue to focus on endgame planning, consideration of the member experience is becoming a more important part of these conversations. Developments in the insurance market mean that member options and support can now often continue to be provided regardless of a scheme’s long-term objective.

During this session we will:

• Share key insights from our 2025 Member Options and Support Survey – see up to date trends in the actions schemes are taking to improve the member journey alongside take-up rate statistics
• Explore how schemes are continuing to provide member options and support regardless of their choice of long-term objective, including deep dive into trends in insurer optionality and support based on Aon’s insurer survey covering all 10 bulk annuity providers

Pension schemes of all sizes and circumstances continue to consider outsourcing, whether to improve investment arrangements, smooth the journey to full funding, navigate the endgame, or manage more complex strategies, including private markets.

This session explores real-world case studies that highlight how fiduciary management and OCIO arrangements have helped schemes enhance investment outcomes, streamline decision-making, and access deeper expertise. Discover how outsourcing is not just a support tool but a catalyst for long-term success.