Perspectives

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.

Sustainability is dominating Trustees’ agenda with climate change squarely at the top. But the other side of the climate change coin is biodiversity loss, a topic that deserves Trustees’ attention in its own right, with many experts considering it a threat more serious than climate change. Read the article by Will Martindale which appeared in the Pensions Management Institute’s Environmental, Social & Governance Report 2022.

Pension scheme trustee boards have never had such a tough job to do. Increasing demands are coming from all directions; whether that be from regulatory scrutiny, enhanced ESG reporting, volatile investment markets or, as the economic environment becomes more challenging, from covenant risk.

In the UK pensions risk transfer market, 2022 has been a year characterised by the increasing
affordability of insurer buy-ins and buy-outs.

Next year we will hopefully see the Department for Work & Pensions’ (DWP) eagerly anticipated Collective Defined Contribution (CDC) consultation paper. There has already been a lot of debate this year around the benefits and challenges.

2022 has been the year where the global bond markets have finally woken up to the reality of central banks’ stimulus being removed from the bond markets.

The events of Q4 2022 have been a timely reminder that, no matter how well funded their defined benefit (DB) pension scheme, pensions risk is still very much a risk to the business (the sponsoring employer) that sits behind it.

Engagement: Human rights in the supply chain. With climate and emissions reductions high on the agenda, companies in the renewable space are prospering. Unfortunately, this can have big human rights implications.

Sustainability: Emissions are rising – and will continue to rise. Globally, we will emit more this year, than last year, and more next year than this year.

Covenant: Don’t get caught out by regulatory changes. 2023 is likely to be the biggest year for regulatory change in the defined benefit (DB) world since 2014 (the implementation of the Funding Code of Practice 03), or even since the Pensions Act 2004.