The Accelerating DB Endgame

Online in Zoom

Tuesday 6^th December 2022

13:30 – 17:50 GMT

Sponsored by

Challenges & Opportunities for DB Pension Schemes
in the New Environment

Almost exactly a year ago, we staged a Masterclass entitled “Endgame, Middlegame or Long Game”, exploring the fact that there were multiple journeys of different lengths that DB plans could implement to meet their pension promises to members. A year later, many of those journeys have narrowed and shortened, especially for corporate DB plans. A rising rate environment, even before the Trussonomics debacle, has been beneficial for funding levels. This has now accelerated further, combined with the far less benign liquidity crunch and the forced sale of both gilts and risk assets resulting from the LDI crisis. Meantime, the DWP consultation on DB funding rules has just closed, such that a focus on how the endgame looks now could not be more timely.

At the Masterclass, expert practitioners and their key advisers, representing DB schemes of all types – closed and open, in house and externally managed – will discuss and compare notes on how they are approaching the endgame in the new environment, the new challenges and opportunities they have identified, the actions they are taking, and the expected outcomes. As usual, the debate will be highly candid and interactive, with delegates encouraged to engage proactively throughout.

Chair

Agenda

Devil's Advocates

Claire McCormick, Pensions Trustee, Yorkshire & Clydesdale Bank DB Scheme
Sofia Perkonigg, Trustee Director, UBS Pension Scheme
Margaret de Valois, Senior Consultant, Stoneport Pensions

A panel of Devil’s Advocates will be on duty for the course of the afternoon.
They will be available to pose challenging questions to any of the conference speakers when invited to do so by the Moderator of each session. They will provide an end of day summary of the main learning and action points from the conference.

13.30 – 13.50

Meet & Greet

13.55 – 14.05

Opening Remarks

Programme Director:
Stephen Glover
Director
SG Pensions Enterprise

14.05 – 14.20

Introduction from the Chair

Masterclass Chair:
Sally Bridgeland
Chair
Local Pensions Partnership Investments

Sally Bridgeland will discuss how the environment has changed for DB schemes in light of rising inflation and rates, the cost-of-living crisis, monetary tightening and the LDI market turmoil.

She will identify some of the challenges ahead and how we will address them during the Masterclass.

14.20 – 15.05

15.05 – 15.30

15.30 – 15.50

Coffee at Home & Online Networking

15.50 – 16.35

Panel Discussion:
The Outlook for DB Funding Policy & Regulation

Moderator:
Henry Tapper
Executive Chair
AgeWage

Sharon Bowles
Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted
House of Lords

David Fairs
Executive Director
Regulatory Policy, Analysis & Advice
The Pensions Regulator

Fiona Frobisher
Deputy Director of DB Scheme Policy
Department for Work & Pensions

Kerrin Rosenberg
Chief Executive Officer
Cardano Investment

The DWP consultation on DB funding rules has recently closed. How are policymakers and regulators responding to the recent turmoil in the financial markets? Are there lessons learned which are likely to affect the nature of DB funding in the future, and in what ways?

Representatives from the DWP, TPR and a leading consultant will debate these vital issues with delegates.

The session will be highly interactive and informative for DB scheme executives weighing up the options facing them.

16.35 – 16.40

Introduction to Discussion Groups

16.40 – 17.20

Expert Discussion Groups

Group 1: Challenges & Opportunities for the In-House DB Model

(Schemes with in house investment resources, both FCA and non-FCA regulated, and including LGPS pool operators)

Facilitator:
Ian McKinlay
Expert Pensions CIO

Lead Discussants:
Mike Clark
Founder Director
Ario Advisory

Mark Hedges
Trustee Director
Nationwide Pension Scheme

Chris Hogg
Chief Executive Officer
National Grid UK Pension
Scheme Trustees

John Raisin
Director
John Raisin Financial Scheme

Group 2: Challenges & Opportunities for the Outsourced DB Model

(Schemes without internal investment resources, including LGPS pool participants, with trustees relying on FM, outsourced CIO and other investment advice to implement their strategy)

Facilitator:
Tegs Harding
Director
Independent Trustee Services

Lead Discussants:
Terry Alleyne
Trustee Director
Citi UK Pensions

Joanne Donnelly
Board Secretary
LGPS Advisory Board

Andrew Krousti
Head of Pensions
Capgemini

Charlotte O’Leary
Chief Executive Officer
Pensions for Purpose

Themes for both discussions:

The current governance model to implement investment and hedging strategies. Will this change?
How best to work with the Sponsor on the journey given recently improved funding positions
Opportunities and governance lessons for LGPS funds and pools from private sector DB de-risking
Challenges to ESG strategies from the sale of illiquid assets
Consequences of the hit to LDI managers’ P&Ls for trustees’ LDI implementation strategies
Optimum delegated governance models between trustees and agents. Can these operate at pace?

17.20 – 17.30

Feedback from Discussion Leaders

Ian McKinlay
Expert Pensions CIO

Tegs Harding
Director
Independent Trustee Services

The Facilitators will report back on the main points covered and the salient conclusions reached in their respective discussion groups.

17.30 – 17.40

Devil's Advocates' Summary

Sofia Perkonigg
Trustee Director
UBS Pension Scheme

Margaret de Valois
Senior Consultant
Stoneport Pensions

The Devil’s Advocates will offer their summary and main takeaways from the afternoon’s proceedings.

17.40 – 17.50

Final Thoughts & Closing Remarks

18.00 Kempen Follow-on event

All Masterclass delegates are invited to an in-person hospitality and networking event, ‘The outer edges of the investment world‘, at Dion Paternoster House near to St Paul’s, hosted by Kempen Capital Management.