The Changing DB Endgame

Winter Conference – The Royal College of Physicians

Wednesday 4th December 2024

10.00 – 18:50 GMT

Sponsored by

Aon
Insight Investment
LCP
M&G IM
Rebalance Earth
Rothesay
Register to Attend
Running On, Running Off OR Running Out

DB Schemes find themselves sitting on a large aggregate surplus, due to higher interest rates and not having been fully hedged in many cases. Profound questions emerge regarding the ownership of that surplus, and whether it can be shared effectively between sponsors and members to the greater benefit of the economy at large.

An array of expert practitioners at the conference will consider how to achieve the joint objectives of securing DB scheme liabilities, maximising surplus return opportunities and wider societal gains, and the products and strategies that are available and emerging to ensure the broadest choices and best outcomes.

In common with all SGPE Masterclasses, the conference will be highly interactive, with free and frank exchanges of views, a focus on original and thought-provoking content, and with participants encouraged to engage and contribute proactively throughout.

Chair

Mark Hedges

Trustee Director
Nationwide Pension Fund

Keynote Speaker

Chris Pond

Chair
Financial Inclusion Commission

Agenda
Devil's Advocates

Deepa Driver, Chair of Negotiators (USS), UCU
Mark Thompson, Chair of the Trustee Board, M&G Pension Scheme

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.

10.00 – 10.30
Meet & Greet
10.30 – 10.45
Welcome & Introduction

Conference Chair:
Mark Hedges
Trustee Director
Nationwide Pension Fund

Programme Director:
Stephen Glover
Director
SG Pensions Enterprise

10.45 – 11.15
Keynote Presentation: Implications for Pensions of the New Labour Government

Chris Pond
Chair of the Financial Inclusion Commission
Former Labour Pensions Minister

A Labour government has just been elected in the UK with a landslide majority and a commitment to economic growth. Of vital importance will be how this growth agenda translates into pensions policy and regulation, especially for DB schemes. 

Former Labour Pensions Minister Chris Pond will describe how pensions policy is formulated at a governmental level, the pensions initiatives that the new government is likely to pursue, and the implications for DB schemes in particular of the Labour programme.

11.15 – 11.40
Presentation: The Endgame Choices Available to DB Schemes

Russell Lee
Head of Insurance Solutions
M&G Investments

Gurbani Swanni-Leach
Head of Endgame Solutions
M&G Investments

With improved funding positions, the choices available to DB sponsors and trustees have increased markedly. Our speakers will present the new endgame landscape and discuss in detail the pros or cons of the various available routes, the trade-offs between guaranteeing benefits and generating excess returns, and the costs involved for the corporate sponsor. 

Among others, the merits of a variety of on-balance sheet and off-balance sheet solutions will be discussed: Buy-In, Buy-Out, Consolidation Models, Capital-Backed Journeys, and indefinite Run-On.

11.40 – 12.05
Presentation: The Bigger Picture on Endgame Solutions

John Hamilton
Chair of Trustees
Stagecoach Group Pension Scheme

Big long-term irrevocable decisions require big long-term thinking. The choices made by pension schemes in the next 3 – 5 years cannot be taken in isolation – and their collective impact will move the UK economic dial.

In a reflective and thought-provoking session, our speaker will look back at the unusual 25-year journey to buy-out level funding of his own scheme to provide some key insights for trustees and sponsors into the broader implications of their endgame solutions. Equally, he will consider the (mis)alignment and impact of endgame objectives from the multiple perspectives of members, trustees, sponsors, insurers and the Government.

12.05 – 12.45
Panel Discussion: The Solution Providers Take the Stand

Moderator:
Peter Ballard
Head of Trustee Delivery
Railpen

Andrea Mendham
Partner
K3 Advisory

Joshua Tipper
Associate Partner
AON

Edi Truell
Co-Founder
Pension Superfund Capital

Matt Wilmington
Chief Transactions Officer
Clara Pensions 

Speakers from among an insurer, a consolidator, a fiduciary Manager, a specialist capital provider, and a pensions consultant, will each make the case for their recommended endgame journey among the various approaches available, from indefinite run-on to full risk transfer. They will discuss the decisions facing both sponsors and trustees to achieve their best endgame result.

12.45 – 13.45
Lunch
13.45 – 14.15
Spotlight: Implications for the Endgame of the New DB Funding Code

Fiona Frobisher
Head of Policy
The Pensions Regulator

The new DB Funding Code will be in force by the time of the conference. It imposes clear obligations upon both trustees and scheme sponsors to develop a funding and investment strategy together with a journey plan to achieve low dependency by the time a scheme is “significantly mature”.

In light of much improved funding positions across the sector, together with major innovations in the management and support for journey plans, speakers will discuss the implications of the new Funding Code for the relative merits of the various endgame solutions.

14.15 – 15.00
Panel Discussion: DB Scheme Sponsors Have Their Say

Moderator:
Charlotte Moore
Freelance Journalist
Independent

Morten Nilsson
Chief Executive Officer
Brightwell

Keith Scott
Trustee Director
Law Debenture

Steve Hodder
Partner
LCP

Sammy Cooper-Smith
Head of Business Development
Rothesay

The ultimate choice on the destination of a DB scheme, especially the decision to run on and not pursue risk transfer in the short term, will be driven by the scheme sponsor rather than the trustee. 

A panel of corporate CFOs, HR directors and key advisers will discuss their main priorities for the governance and management of their DB pension scheme and how they weigh these up in the context of the overall financial objectives for their company.

15.00 – 15.25
Presentation: Transitioning to a Run-On Portfolio

Moderator:
Ian McKinlay
Senior Adviser
Avida International

Presenter:
Matt Stephenson
Solution Designer, Client Solutions Group
Insight Investment

An increasing number of DB schemes are actively pursuing run-on strategies, whether because full risk transfer opportunities are not available in the short term and/or they see opportunities for extracting surplus over a longer investment horizon for the benefit of the corporate sponsor and scheme members. 

Our speaker will examine the factors that will be needed to achieve effective run-on and surplus management, including the level of funding required, legislation to enable annual distribution of surpluses, determining the composition of a target run-on portfolio and the efficient transition towards it. 

15.25 – 15.50
Coffee Break
15.50 – 16.30
Roundtable Discussions
The Key Endgame Decision Factors

Facilitator: 
Shalin Bhagwan
Chief Actuary
Pension Protection Fund

Roundtable Moderators: 
Con Keating, Head of Research, Brighton Rock Group
Andrew Krousti, Head of Pensions, Capgemini
William McGrath, Chief Executive, C-Suite Pension Strategies
Ian McKinlay, Senior Adviser, Avida International
Stephanie Nuttall, Head of Pension Scheme Executive, M&G plc
Sofia Perkonigg, Trustee Director, UBS Pension Fund

Following a scene-setting introduction, a Moderator at each table will lead a discussion on the key decision factors that trustees and sponsors need to take into consideration when deciding on the endgame choice for their DB pension scheme. These could include size of scheme, funding level, the ratio of deferred to active members, sponsor priorities and costs among others. 

Several of the Moderators will be called upon to summarise their conclusions to the overall conference. 

16.30 – 17.00
Presentation: The Pension Protection Fund as a Public Consolidator

Michelle Ostermann
Chief Executive Officer
Pension Protection Fund

The industry needs to be able to provide a clear path to an endgame solution for every closed DB scheme over the next 20 years. While insurance will be attractive to many, a one-size-fits-all approach to buyout won’t suit every scheme. 

The CEO of the PPF will reflect upon the UK’s current pension landscape, suggest lessons we can learn from global systems, and discuss the framework the UK needs to support every scheme both to identify and to reach an appropriate endgame. 

17.00 – 17.10
Devil's Advocates' Summary

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

17.10 – 17.20
Chair's Closing Remarks
17.20 – 18.50
Drinks Reception & Networking
Speakers

Peter Ballard

Head of Trustee Delivery
Railpen

Shalin Bhagwan

Chief Actuary
Pension Protection Fund

Fiona Frobisher

Head of Policy
The Pension Regulator

John Hamilton

Chair of Trustees
Stagecoach Group Pensions

Con Keating

Head of Research
Brighton Rock

Andrew Krousti

Head of Pensions
Capgemini

Russell Lee

Head of Insurance Solutions
M&G Investments

Ian McKinlay

Senior Adviser
Avida International

Charlotte Moore

Freelance Journalist
Independent

Stephanie Nuttall

Head of Pensions Scheme Executive
M&G plc

Morten Nilsson

Chief Executive Officer
Brightwell

Gurbani Swanni-Leach

Head of Endgame Solutions
M&G Investments

Sponsors
Click on images for more information
Venue

The Royal College of Physicians, London

This event will be held at the Royal College of Physicians in London. 

Nearest Tube/Underground Stations (Tfl)

Regent's Park (Bakerloo - 4 mins)
Great Portland Street (Circle, Metropolitan, H&C - 4 mins)
Warren Street (Victoria, Northern - 8 mins)

Nearest Train Stations (National Rail)

London Euston (11 mins)
Marylebone (20 mins)
Kings Cross St Pancras Int. (25 mins)

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Insight Investment has built a unique investment platform that delivers outcome-oriented investment solutions.

As a specialist asset manager, we aim to deliver consistent and repeatable performance by focusing only on those things we believe we can do well, which include risk-management strategies such as liability-driven investment (LDI), fixed income, currency risk management and multi-asset investment.

Insight’s leadership in risk management and LDI is built on years of experience helping pension schemes, large and small, to develop and implement robust long-term funding strategies. 

Our clients are among the most sophisticated institutional investors in the world and include leading pension funds, insurers, sovereign wealth funds and corporations.

For more details, visit Insight’s website here.

M&G Investments is an asset manager that connects the dots globally to identify investment opportunities. 

Our global network of investment professionals connect world-class research capabilities with the diverse experiences and views of experts across multiple asset classes. We call this Intelligence Connected. 

We’ve been putting our clients at the centre of everything we do for over 90 years. And after launching Europe’s first-ever mutual fund back in 1931, we’re now recognised for our expertise in fixed income, private markets, multi-asset solutions and equities, including our growing range of sustainability-driven thematic equity products. 

Today, we manage over £312bn* on behalf of individual and professional investors, including banks, pension funds, insurers, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, charities and advisors. And by investing for our internal client, we further enhance our ability to understand and act on our clients’ objectives. 

As part of M&G plc, the International savings and investment business, we also have a shared purpose to give everyone real confidence to put their money to work. 

*As of 30 June 2024. 

CONTACT

Russell Lee
Head of Insurance Solutions

Gurbani Swanni-Leach
Head of Endgame Solutions

For more information, visit M&G Investments’ website here.

Mark Hedges

Trustee Director
Nationwide Pension Fund

Mark is a Trustee and former Chief Investment Officer of the Nationwide Pension Fund, where he had responsibility for the performance and implementation of the asset allocation strategies agreed with the fund investment advisors.

Previously, he led the establishment of Nationwide’s Covered Bond programme and its Silverstone RMBS Master Trust funding vehicle. In addition, Mark has securitised UK Student Loans and a synthetic corporate bond structure along with structured transaction and investment in various ABS instruments. Past experience also includes leading the origination and structuring of social housing, PFI and commercial real estate debt transactions.

Chris Pond

Chair
Financial Inclusion Commission

Chris is a former Pensions Minister, who now serves as Chair of the Financial Inclusion Commission, of the Lending Standards Board, of the Equity Release Council Standards Board and of The Money Charity. He is an Independent Director of the Current Account Switch Service (Pay.UK) and of Cape Claims Services, and is a trustee of GambleAware and the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute.

Chris is a member of the Treasury FinTech Delivery Panel. He has been Chief Executive of two national charities and chair or trustee of many others and was formerly Director of Financial Capability and Head of Consumer Affairs of the Financial Services Authority.

Shalin Bhagwan

Chief Actuary
Pension Protection Fund

Shalin joined the PPF in 2023, where he serves as Chief Actuary and interim Chief Financial Officer. 

At PPF, he brings extensive pensions, insurance and investment experience, having previously worked at DWS Investments since 2018, and other companies across the sector for many years. He originally started his career in South Africa in life insurance pricing and reserving and then transitioned into liability valuations for defined benefit pension funds. 

In addition, he brings significant LDI, derivative and credit portfolio management experience and has advised some of the UK’s largest pension funds on their LDI strategies both as a consultant with Mercer and portfolio manager with Legal & General Investment Management.

Shalin is a member of the Advisory panel at the Financial Reporting Council. He recently served as a member of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries’ Finance and Investment Board and as an advisory member for the task force to boost socio-economic diversity at senior levels in both the financial and professional services sectors.

Shalin is a Fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries and holds an Honours Degree in Statistics and Actuarial Science from the University of Cape Town.

Fiona Frobisher

Head of Policy
The Pensions Regulator

Fiona is the Head of Policy at TPR, leading on changes to how TPR regulates areas such as value for money in DC schemes, funding for DB schemes and standards for trustees. She has more than 20 years’ experience in developing private pension standards and leading regulatory change. She is passionate about delivering pragmatic solutions which both protect members and work for those implementing them. 

Fiona has recently returned from a loan as a Deputy Director at the DWP, where she led on the government response to effect of gilt rises on pension schemes, and way to ensure that pensions schemes including defined benefit schemes invest more productively. 

John Hamilton

Chair of Trustees
Stagecoach Group Pensions Scheme

John has a wide range of pension experience, including having been involved in looking after the Stagecoach Group Pension Scheme in various roles for nearly 25 years, in which he is currently serving as Chair of Trustees.

He was also a long-serving Trustee of the multi-employer Railway Pension Scheme from 2009 to 2020. He was instrumental in initiating changes in the 2021 regulations, acknowledging the different funding treatment possible for open schemes, and is known for independent and challenging thinking. 

A member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (Scotland) Tax Board, his early training was as an international tax adviser.

Over his corporate career, he has benefited from extensive experiences in business appraisal and valuations for corporate acquisitions and disposals, and this has influenced his approach to pension scheme investment. He is passionate about delivering fair pension outcomes, and a believer in the virtuous cycle created by pension scheme investment in driving growth to pay pensions. 

Andrew Krousti

Head of Pensions
Capgemini

Andrew has spent nearly 25 years working in pensions and is APMI qualified. He considers pensions to be all about engaging with people to improve their future financial security. He has managed many types of pension arrangements for very different organisations with unique attributes. 

Andrew’s work has included: 

  • Innovative pension solutions – with focus on digitisation, simplification and effective communication 
  • DB schemes – closures, de-risking liabilities, long term objectives, endgame, s75 debt, New Fair Deal 
  • DC arrangements – auto re-enrolment, pension freedoms, investment changes, Master Trusts, aim for better outcomes 
  • HR Teams – Reward matters, group risk benefits, annual pay reviews, impact on high earners of Annual & Lifetime Allowance changes 

Russell Lee

Head of Investment Solutions
M&G Investments

Russell joined M&G Investments in 2019 to head the Global Insurance Solutions team. The team brings together expertise from across the firm to meet the complex requirements of insurance clients. 

Immediately prior to joining M&G, Russell worked at Legal & General, where he spent four years in the retirement division executing large bulk annuity transactions and developing new products. He worked closely with the internal manager on cash-flow matching strategies, holistic portfolio management, and incorporating illiquid assets into portfolios. 

He has a broad background in insurance and pension consulting, investing private capital, portfolio restructuring, corporate banking and quantitative finance. Russell holds a Doctorate from Queen’s University Belfast in Theoretical Physics. 

Ian McKinlay

Expert Pensions CIO

Ian is a highly experienced pensions investment executive. Most recently, he has been the Chief Investment Officer at Lloyds Banking Group Pensions, overseeing some £40 billion of assets across both DB and DC sections. He joined Lloyds from Aviva, where he carried out a similar role. Prior to that, he was the CIO of the Pension Protection Fund. Ian is also a member of the actuarial profession’s Finance and Investment Board, while also being Chairman of EPFIF’s Pension Fund Investment Advisory Committee.

Charlotte Moore

Freelance Journalist
Independent

Charlotte Moore is an award-winning journalist and communications consultant, who has written about investments and pensions for 18 years.

She writes for a number of well-respected trade magazines. She examines how institutions like pension schemes and insurers allocate capital. Investing to protect the planet and improve society is one of her areas of expertise and she holds regular salons, where panellists are invited to debate different sustainable institutional investment topics. She is often asked to moderate panel topics at external conferences.

Stephanie Nuttall

Head of Pension Scheme Executive
M&G plc

Steph took up the role of Head of Pension Scheme Executive for M&G in July 2024, assuming responsibility for the company’s three staff pension schemes.

She previously spent 19 years at Lloyds Banking Group in a number of pensions roles, ultimately taking responsibility for all member facing activity and strategic change as Head of Pensions Operations. Working on the Lloyds schemes provided the opportunity for Steph to build a broad experience, including the challenge of GMP equalisation through the court case and subsequent implementation. 

Steph’s primary focus is on the member experience within pension schemes, which she views as becoming ever more critical with the shift to DC pensions and the need for members to understand their retirement savings and options. 

Morten Nilsson

Chief Executive Officer
Brightwell

Morten joined Brightwell in 2018, and is responsible for leading all aspects of the business in its support of its clients and the workforce. 

He has spent most of his career in financial services, as he joined the pensions and investments industry in 2001 and spent over 10 years with the £90bn Danish pension scheme ATP, where he held different senior positions across administration, investments, product and business development. 

In 2010, Morten moved to London, where he founded NOW: Pensions, and as CEO, grew the business to become one of the largest defined contribution providers in the UK.