This conference will look at the challenges facing DC pension schemes in 2010 and on into the rest of the new decade, find out what solutions are available to meet these challenges and what constitutes current industry best practice. We will consider a range of issues such as investment options, policy issues, the role of trustees, administration, communication, performance and annuity purchase
Comments from Delegates Included
"Educational and thought provoking with no "sell"" Simone Macmillan, Lend Lease
"Great to have new and innovative ideas and abl to hear them. Shame industry is not more forward thinking" Anon
"Reliably challenging content which will require some serious thinking and consideration." Barry Parr, Orange
"Excellent day. Lots to think about and to take back to the trustee board." Anon
"Exposure to different investment approaches certainly gave food for thought" Susan Hill, Sun Microsystems Pension Scheme
Pension Funds who attended this conference included:
Anglian Water Group Pension Scheme
Association of British Insurers
Bechtel Pension Scheme
Capgemini UK
Citi Pensions and Trustees Ltd
Consumers Association Pension & Employee Benefit Scheme
Co-Operative Wholesale Society
Dana Spicer Europe LTD.
Davis Service Group Retirement Benefits Scheme
EMI
Gallaher Pension Schemes
Harrods Group Trustees
Hunting Pension Scheme
Independent Trustee Services
ITV plc Pension Scheme
Kuwait Investment Office
Law Debenture
Lend Lease
Lloyd's Register Superannuation Fund Association
Marks & Spencer Pension Scheme
Mars Pension Trustee Ltd.
OCS Group Pension Trustees Ltd.
Orange UK Pension Fund
PA Pension Trustees Ltd.
Pearson plc
Philips Electronics UK Ltd.
Reliance Precision Ltd
Spectris plc
Sun Microsystems Pension Trustees
Sun Microsystems Retirement and Benefits Scheme
SunGard
Syngenta
The Diamond Trading Company
The Pensions Regulator
The Pensions Trust
Unilever UK Pension Fund Trustees Ltd
A similar conference which was run previously can be found
here
DC members have a number of “levers” that they can manipulate to help them achieve a target percentage of their income in retirement. These are their level of contribution, their timescales and the funds that they select. How can we help members to think about an appropriate target and use these levers effectively to achieve this?
John Walbaum, Partner, Hymans Robertson
“Does Your Defined Contribution Portfolio Have "Bad Breadth"?”
Breadth is not the same as diversification; Leverage can reduce risk; Examine asset behaviour in times of market stress, and apply “outside the box” solutions.
Paul Goldwhite, CFA, Director, Research, First Quadrant
10.30
Coffee/Tea
11.00
Looking to the Future
“The Next Generation of Bond Funds for DC”
Overview of bonds; Different flavours of bond markets; Impact of the credit crunch; Core elements; DC – how to make bond funding accessible to DC investors.
Simon Surtees, Fixed Income Product Specialist, Standish Mellon
“Delivering NEST”
Practical implementation issues; Looking at the wider issues - administration and operational considerations.
Nigel Pettinger, Director of Operations, PADA
12.20
Drinks and Lunch
13.50
Redesigning Investment Strategy
“Future design considerations for DC investment strategy”
Different DC members have different objectives depending upon their age, wealth and financial sophistication. Static lifestyling strategies can help address some of the risks faced by members over
their lifecycle, but these strategies offer a relatively blunt solution. When developing solutions for DC members, particularly when considering the decumulation/pre-retirement phase, we can learn a great deal from looking at LDI and other innovations in the DB market. This allows us to move forwards and consider potential and likely innovations in this area of the overall DC strategy.
Yumeng Zhang, Derivative Structurer, Solutions Group &
Marcus Mollan, Head of Strategy, Pension Solutions, Legal and General Investment Management
“Combining Growth and Protection for the DC Market"
Need for more sophisticated solutions are emerging as the current default option based around passive lifestyle funds have not proven to be successful. Now innovative solutions have been designed that comprise active management across a diversified stream of returns combined with continuous protection management to minimize downside risk.
Nilesh Mehta, Head of Institutional Investment Solutions for the UK Market, BNP Paribas &
Alexandre Godard, Global Head of Mutual Fund & Multi Asset Structuring Team, BNP Paribas.
15.10
Coffee/Tea
15.40
Practical Issues and Panel Session
Moderator: Kim Gubler, Senior Partner, Kim Gubler Consulting
“Getting Personal”
The UK can learn a huge amount from the rest of the world in how to communicate better with plan members. Sharing results of recent research to identify the best DC Pensions Communications campaigns across the world; Discussing the importance of personalising messages to fund members, and how this can be achieved; Looking at the issue of de-jargonising comms with members – clear language is a key skill; How campaigns must look for scale – the end of small, customised company initiatives.
Magnus Spence, Researcher & Consultant, Spence Johnson
“Panel Session”
The panel will discuss their experiences of DC scheme design, current investment and communication issues and member participation.
Ian Richards, Chairman of Trustees, Next Pension Trustees Ltd.
Philip Mendelsohn, Director, Atkins Pension Trustee Limited
