Perspectives

As recently as last year, Scheme surpluses were not high on most Trustees’ agendas – something to be thought about in the distant future, should they arise. However, recent rapid rises in gilt yields has brought surpluses firmly onto today’s agenda.

DEI is important from a covenant perspective, both in terms of identifying long-term sponsor risks, and for good trustee decision-making relating to the security of members’ benefits. Cardano, in partnership with Mallowstreet, recently commissioned research in response to The Pensions Regulator’s (TPR) calls for the industry to improve DEI. The aim of this research was to gather data to assess the level of awareness of DEI issues among trustees, raise awareness of the importance of DEI in the pensions industry and identify areas of improvement that can be made.

Around the world, life expectancy has reached a record high. People are living longer than ever before – but they’re also retiring sooner, meaning that pensioners are collecting benefits for previously unimagined lengths of time.

With living to the age of a hundred and beyond becoming a realistic prospect for increasing numbers of people, it’s time to rethink our relationship with our future selves.

The importance of DEI in pension scheme trustee boards is gaining momentum. We recently held a roundtable event to discuss the topic in more detail and to explore the results from the DEI survey we conducted in partnership with mallowstreet.

The Annual Funding Statement appears to factor in some of the feedback on the draft Funding Code, providing more nuanced commentary on covenant and integrated risk management.
Emily Goodridge and Christopher Heritage summarise the key points here.

In line with expectations, the Bank of England once again raised interest rates on 23rd March. This is the 11th successive increase with rates now at their highest level since 2008 at 4.25%. The recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the emergency purchase of its UK subsidiary by HSBC, not to mention the Credit Suisse turmoil, serve as a timely reminder that the impact of the rapid rise in interest rates globally has not yet been fully appreciated.

We recently commissioned research with Mallowstreet to look at the challenges and barriers to improving diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) across the pensions industry.

TPR’s draft Funding Code – What are the key takeaways and can you be doing anything?
Consistent with the draft regulations published by DWP, TPR is putting covenant at the heart of setting the level of supportable risk in a journey plan, and the period over which that risk can be taken.

At the end of 2022, The Pensions Regulator published its long-awaited draft Funding Code and consultation. We explore what the changes mean for pensions trustees in four short videos. Watch them to to find out more.

Based on Will Martindale’s experience, he has written his top 10 learnings on how a Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) can most effectively support a firm in achieving its climate and sustainability objectives.