Once again, we held our conference at the beautiful RSA House in central London. Our audience enjoyed the insights of expert speakers on industry talking points such as inflation and Defined Benefit (DB) scheme run-on.
Watch our conference highlights
Session 1 | Is inflation beaten?
In the opening session, independent economist Keith Wade gave a valuable macro-level update on the economic trends likely to affect pensions. He focused on inflation – where we are now and the medium-term prospects – and lifted out some useful points to consider ahead of the general election.
Keith Wade – independent economist
Keith Wade is an economist. He was previously Chief Economist at Schroders. He is a trustee of the National Institute for Economic and Social Research and an adviser to a wealth manager.
Session 2 | A legal perspective on evolving DB end-game strategies
In the second session, Simon Daniel from Eversheds Sutherland looked at evolving DB end-game strategies. He explained that trustees should not automatically assume that buy-out is the ‘gold standard’ end game, and urged schemes to consider all options.
Simon Daniel, Eversheds Sutherland
Simon is a partner at Eversheds Sutherland. He focuses on advising trustees of all scheme types on investment matters and is Chair of the SPP’s Investment Committee. He has led on £5.4bn worth of transactions to date, and advises market participants on bulk annuity projects of all kinds.
Session 3 | Is running-on DB schemes gaining traction?
First Actuarial’s Vicky Greenwood discussed running-on, arguing that although it may not be right for every scheme, everyone should consider it. It’s not risk-free, but managed well, it can deliver positive outcomes for employers, trustees and members. The session included an interesting audience poll which asked whether attendees would consider run-on for their scheme.
Vicky Greenwood
Vicky is a Scheme Actuary who recently joined First Actuarial from Isio. Prior to that, she worked at Broadstone/2020 Trustees in a split actuarial and independent professional trustee role. Her 13 years’ pensions experience include scheme journey planning, bespoke funding solutions, and financial wellbeing to help scheme members understand their benefits.
Session 4 | Investment opportunities and risks following the gilt crisis
In this section, Andrew Overend and Adam Michaels from First Actuarial discussed the aftermath of the gilt crisis, and provided updates on diversified growth funds (DGF) and cashflow planning. Adam discussed why so many DGFs have performed below expectations. Andrew looked at cashflow planning, and explained why First Actuarial is building it into investment strategy reviews.
Andrew Overend, First Actuarial
Andrew qualified as an actuary in 2004. He worked as a Scheme Actuary before focusing on investment consultancy. He joined First Actuarial in 2015. He is a Partner and leads our investment practice.
Adam Michaels, First Actuarial
Adam joined First Actuarial in 2023 with professional experience covering the full range of investment advice – from setting investment strategy to manager and fund selection and ongoing monitoring. Adam has a first-class degree in mathematics from Oxford University and qualified as an actuary in 2001.
Session 5 | An update on the pensions dashboards
This panel discussion on the pensions dashboards was chaired by First Actuarial’s Robert Wakefield and featured Claire Fuller, Jonathan Hawkins from Bravura and Oliver Morley from MaPS. Following the recent pause in the Pensions Dashboards Programme, questions included what should schemes be doing now, and how confident we can be that the dashboards will be delivered in time for the final deadline of October 2026.
Robert Wakefield, First Actuarial
Robert has worked in pensions for more than 30 years in a variety of roles. As Head of Pensions Administration, he works on member experience, instilling best practice and delivering an excellent level of service to members and clients alike. He is currently President of the Pensions Management Institute.
Jonathan Hawkins, Bravura
Jonathan Hawkins EPMI is Bravura’s Propositions Lead, EMEA. He is a fintech expert, with more than 20 years’ experience in pensions, platforms and business-focused technology. Jonathan is the architect leading the Bravura pensions dashboards ISP solution, and is part of the software software supplier group and the technical working group of the Pensions Dashboards Programme. He was named Pensions Age’s Personality of the Year in 2023.
Oliver Morley, MaPS
Oliver is CEO of the Money and Pensions Service. He brings a valuable blend of private and public sector leadership experience with organisations including Thomson Reuters, the Pensions Protection Fund and the DVLA, where he was awarded a CBE for digital transformation. Oliver is committed to seeing MaPS reach its full potential to deliver on its purpose “to help people, particularly those most in need, to make the most of their money and pensions”.
Claire Fuller
Claire is Head of Pensions Administration Systems at First Actuarial, with overall responsibility for administration software. She has worked in the pensions industry for more than 30 years, having started out as a trainee pensions administration. Her expertise spans in-house and third-party administration environments with schemes of varying sizes and complexity. She is First Actuarial’s lead for pensions dashboards.
Session 6 | Pension policy under the next government
In our closing session, Tom McPhail looked at the pension policy questions that the next government will face. With a focus on Defined Contribution (DC), where his expertise lies, he took the audience through a panorama of pressing issues, including the triple lock, demographics and how they’ll affect pensions and savings adequacy.
Tom McPhail, the lang cat
Tom is one of the UK’s leading contributors to pensions policy in the UK. For 18 years, he was pensions spokesman for Hargreaves Lansdown. In 2021 Tom conducted a review of the Money and Pensions Service for the DWP. He now works for the Edinburgh-based consultancy the lang cat, providing strategic advice on policy issues and PR.
First Actuarial Client Conference 2024 – Gallery
A good range of relevant topics. First Actuarial people were really friendly and welcoming. Good that most of the speakers stopped for drinks and nibbles afterwards. Great venue.