Date: Thursday 2nd February 2023
Time: 10.00 – 18.00
Location: Columbia Threadneedle Investments, 78 Cannon St, London EC4N 6AG
Join us to hear from our confirmed speakers, Chair of The Pensions Regulator, Sarah Smart; Principal of the Pensions Dashboards Programme, Chris Curry; and Partner, LCP and Former Minister of State for Pensions, Sir Steve Webb.
The conference will cover all aspects of protecting pensions - from regulation and investment, to pension specific initiatives. The event will provide several opportunities for you to ask our experts questions through the day, as well as networking with your fellow AMNT members.
Agenda
10:00 Registration
10:45 - 11:00
Introduction and welcome
Presented by:
Zahra Sachak is a Director in the Client Management team and has over 18 years’ industry experience. Zahra joined Columbia Threadneedle through the acquisition of BMO GAM (EMEA) in 2021, having previously been with BMO since 2018. Prior to this, she worked at Investec AM in the North America Institutional sales team. This was in conjunction with a role at Investec’s Investment Institute faculty, established as a strategic insights and engagement platform, developing ideas around long-term investing. Previous roles she held included working at Aviva Investors as a Client Portfolio Manager for Macro Directional & Relative Value Hedge Funds and at Schroders as a Fixed Income Credit Product Specialist. Zahra holds a BSc (Hons) Mathematics & Computer Science from Royal Holloway, University of London.
Janice Turner is founding Co-Chair of the Association of Member Nominated Trustees. She helped to found the AMNT because she believed that the voices of ordinary member-nominated trustees were not being heard. For more than eight years she has been putting forward the views of trustees to the industry and the government. Janice has been a member of the Department for Work and Pensions Trustees Panel and the Actuarial Users' Committee of the Financial Reporting Council and was a guest speaker at Harvard Law School's international pensions and capital stewardship conference. She has been named by Pensions Insight as one of the top 50 most influential people in the pensions industry.
11:00 - 11:40
Trusteeship now
The role of the trustee is becoming increasingly complex, with evolving legislation and governance requirements demanding more time and greater skill. In this context, Nick will explain what are the key priorities for trustees now.
Presented by:
11:40 - 12:20
Inflation and recession: Can pensions cope?
The mounting cost of living crisis due to high inflation, surging energy bills and flagging consumer confidence, provides an uncertain backdrop for the UK. Steven will discuss the macro-economic outlook and implications for pension schemes.
Presented by:
Steven Bell works for BMO Global Asset Management, part of Columbia Threadneedle. He is Managing Director, Global Macro and BMO Global Asset Management’s Chief Economist. Steven manages BMO GAM’s Global Macro Strategy and chairs the Global Market Themes committee as part of the asset allocation process for the multi asset solutions unit. He joined BMO in 2013 after seven years running a successful Global Macro hedge fund at GLC Ltd.. Before that, he spent 20 years at Deutsche Bank and predecessor companies as Global Chief Economist and Head of Global Markets Research. Steven has economics degrees from the London School of Economics and Stanford University and started his career as an Economic Adviser at the UK Treasury. He appears regularly on TV and radio and has written numerous articles on finance and economics.
12:20 - 12:50
AMNT update: Our voice for members
Janice discusses current AMNT campaigns and how members can get more involved.
Presented by:
Janice Turner is founding Co-Chair of the Association of Member Nominated Trustees. She helped to found the AMNT because she believed that the voices of ordinary member-nominated trustees were not being heard. For more than eight years she has been putting forward the views of trustees to the industry and the government. Janice has been a member of the Department for Work and Pensions Trustees Panel and the Actuarial Users' Committee of the Financial Reporting Council and was a guest speaker at Harvard Law School's international pensions and capital stewardship conference. She has been named by Pensions Insight as one of the top 50 most influential people in the pensions industry.
12:50 - 13:45
Lunch and networking
Join us for lunch and an opportunity to network with speakers and your fellow members.
13:45 - 14:20
Breakout session: A pensions focus
A new funding code for DB pension schemes is expected to come into effect later this year. There will be a requirement for trustees to set a journey plan to achieve low dependency from the scheme’s sponsor by the time the scheme is significantly mature. In this session we unpack these key concepts and discuss various investment strategies available to schemes to help them meet their obligations.
Hosted by:
Jonathan Smith, Head of Solution Design, Columbia Threadneedle Investments
Jonathan Smith leads the Solution Design team, which is responsible for designing tailored LDI and CDI solutions. Jonathan joined Columbia Threadneedle through the acquisition of BMO GAM (EMEA) in 2021, having previously been with BMO since 2017. He joined from Schroders, where he was in the UK Strategic Solutions team and then a Fiduciary Manager. Prior to Schroders, Jon was an Investment Consultant at Towers Watson. Jon is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries and has a degree in Mathematics and Philosophy from Oxford University.
The UK has declared its ambition to be the world’s first net zero aligned financial centre. Trustees face obligations to improve their climate change risk analysis and reporting under TCFD regulations, and many pension schemes have also taken on net zero targets. This session will talk through the choices trustees face, and how climate change can be embedded in investment strategies in a way that is consistent with fiduciary duty.
Hosted by:
Vicki Bakhshi, Director, Climate Strategist, Columbia Threadneedle Investments
Vicki Bakhshi is a Director in the Responsible Investment team. She joined the firm in November 2006, prior to which she spent five years in the UK government, including as the Prime Minister’s policy adviser on climate change, and as a senior member of the team responsible for the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change. She also spent three years as a leader writer at the Financial Times, and two years as an economist at the Bank of England. Vicki chairs the UKSIF Leadership Committee, has served on the Board of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, and was also named by Financial News in 2013 as one of the top 100 influential women in finance in Europe. Vicki holds an MSc in Economics from Warwick University and a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University.
New trustee or more experienced? Hear about improving your knowledge and understanding through a recognised qualification. Janice (who completed the process recently) will explain how.
Hosted by:
Janice Turner, Co-Chair, AMNT
Janice Turner is founding co-chair of the Association of Member Nominated Trustees. She helped to found the AMNT because she believed that the voices of ordinary member-nominated trustees were not being heard. For more than eight years she has been putting forward the views of trustees to the industry and the government. Janice has been a member of the Department for Work and Pensions Trustees Panel and the Actuarial Users' Committee of the Financial Reporting Council and was a guest speaker at Harvard Law School's international pensions and capital stewardship conference. She has been named by Pensions Insight as one of the top 50 most influential people in the pensions industry.
14:20 - 15:00
Pensions dashboards: What’s next for trustees?
The Pensions Dashboards Regulations 2022 were recently given approval by parliament, empowering the PDP to set dashboards standards that underpin legislation. Here, Chris will explain what schemes can do to get their data ready for dashboards.
Chris Curry was appointed as Principal of the Pensions Dashboards Programme at the Money and Pensions Service in 2019, on a part-time basis. Chris reports into Chair of the Money and Pensions Service, Sir Hector Sants. Chris brings valuable expertise and insight gained in his other role as the Director of the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI), where he continues to work part-time. Chris has worked on important projects, such as the Department for Work and Pensions Auto-Enrolment Review Advisory Group in 2017, where he was co-chair and led on providing advice on the theme of Contributions. At the PPI, Chris has authored and presented a number of research reports analysing pensions (including state, private and public sector pensions), pension reforms and other provision for retirement income. Chris started his career as an Economic Adviser at the Department of Social Security (now the Department for Work and Pensions), before joining the Association of British Insurers as Senior Economist. Chris has a BSc (Hons) in Economics from the University of Warwick, and an MSc in Economics from Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London.
15:00 - 15:30
Afternoon Tea Break & Networking
Enjoy tea, scones and nibbles for an afternoon of networking with speakers and your fellow members.
15:30 - 16:20
Ask our experts: Key issues facing pension scheme trustees
Ask our expert panelists any burning questions you may have:
Our panelists:
By using the experience I have gained over more than 40 years working in pensions, I help my clients achieve their short-term and long-term objectives. My clients tell me that, by explaining complex issues clearly and with minimal use of jargon, I help them make good, well-informed decisions. I have also acted as expert in litigation involving pensions matters including providing expert advice, writing expert reports and giving evidence in court as an expert witness.
Steve is a partner and actuary at Barnett Waddingham with wide ranging pensions advisory expertise. As well as being the appointed scheme actuary to a number of trustee clients, he also has experience in areas such as corporate consultancy, wider strategy review exercises, risk transfer options and pensions taxation. Steve is prominent in the industry, being the current President of the Society of Pension Professionals. He is also part of the Regulator’s industry working group for the development of their new DB funding code and Chairs a Steering Group for research by the Actuarial Profession into future pension plans that achieve greater risk sharing in retirement.
Simeon leads XPS’s thinking on journey planning and asset allocation, along with being responsible for research across the investment team. Simeon is an experienced investment specialist with 20 years’ experience, advising trustee and corporate clients on a full range of investment related matters, with a particular emphasis towards strategy and risk management. Simeon is frequently quoted in the press on matters relating to investment opportunities and topical debate.
Rob is a Scheme Actuary and corporate adviser with 20 years’ experience in the industry. He advises schemes across a range of industries with assets from £5m up to £1.5bn. He is Head of Governance at XPS, with particular focus on the challenges of trusteeship and helping schemes develop robust risk management frameworks.
Maggie joined AMNT in 2016 and has been an MNT of The Church of England Pensions Board for 5 years and currently chairs their Audit and Risk Committee. CEPB is a fund for those connected to the Church of England with £3bn AUM, 41000 members and almost 700 employers. It encompasses a number of different schemes including DB, which is open to accrual and new members, plus a number of Hybrid schemes and a small DC scheme for different groups of members. Just to be a little different it is a Charity which also manages retirement housing for Clergy and others serving the Church. CEPB, together with other central Church investment funds, takes ethical and ESG investing very seriously and has an in- house team managing their engagement activities. They were a founder signatory to Net Zero and have committed to using the Net Zero Investment framework.
16:20 - 17:00
Keynote Specialist Session: Looking forward, the outlook for pensions
I find pensions endlessly fascinating! My first job was as a micro-economist with the Institute for Fiscal Studies for nine years, followed by two years teaching social policy at Bath University. I was unexpectedly elected to Parliament in 1997, and served for 18 years, the last five of which I was the Pensions Minister.
During my time at DWP I oversaw the successful implementation of automatic enrolment, helped design and legislate for the new state pension and played a key role in the ‘pension freedoms’ introduced in 2015.
Since leaving politics I have worked for four years for the mutual insurer Royal London commenting on all matters relating to pensions and in 2020 I joined LCP as a partner, advising and commenting on a wide range of DB and DC pensions issues and speaking at a variety of events.
17:00 - 18:00
Close and thanks
A summary of talking points followed by drinks, nibbles and networking.
18:00
End
What members say about our events:
"Thank you - it was an excellent day and I'll come again. I always circulate notes to my fellow trustees."
"Really enjoyable day well done to all who organised this. My first time attending, keep up the excellent work, really appreciated."
"Excellent range of topics, as usual. Break out sessions are good for a more in depth discussion of topics with people who are specifically involved or affected."
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