I really don’t know why Professional Pensions are so gracious to this blog when I have been so adamant so much of the time that they are wrong!
They were not wrong yesterday when their debates allowed the views of frustrated professionals to express their frustration that we are not making the most of either our DB or DC schemes.
When it came to Defined Contribution pensions , debate had moved to how trustees and providers could work together to offer “decumulation”. Simultaneous to a DC stream , a DB stream focussed not on how to get rid of DB pensions to the insurers but how DB could be supported to use its massive wealth for the benefit of members and sponsors.
And while she could not fully express herself (we are in a kind of purdah awaiting the publication of the first steps of a new Pensions Act, there was a certain spring in Nausicaa Delfas’ step.
The question on Pension Professionals lips is how long we will need to wait. It is not just the anxious expectation for the forthcoming legislation but a wish that in the meantime work can be done to ensure that no more money is wasted either on the unnecessary purchase of bulk annuities or the loss of pension savings that accumulate but do not properly decumulate.
For those who couldn’t go , I cannot offer videos of what happened, I can offer only the agenda.
There was much talk of changes in asset allocation to ensure more money is invested in Britain and in companies and infrastructure that aren’t accessible from stock markets. LTAFs were a matter of frustration, not fit for the mighty purpose of the Accord, being funds without a concentration of private assets. Martin Dietz and Gregg McClymont produced the session which I marked the highest of the day , focussing on
-
What the Mansion House Pensions Investment Review means for DC schemes and infrastructure
-
Explore the case for infrastructure in DC portfolios—from diversification to long-term value
-
Hear from IFM Investors and LGIM on mobilising DC capital for productive investment
-
Understand the role of strategic partnerships in delivering scale and access for DC
I am sorry that I could not hear all the DB sessions , concurrent as they were with DC sessions but I enjoyed an enthusiastic promotion of DB run-on from Hymans Roberston and a bright session from Punter Southall’s Richard Jones of the opportunities that come from a capital injection to boost a pension’s capacity to pay out effectively.
It was good to hear separate topics and for various streams to come together at the end for a rumbustious session involving this group of gnarled veterans
There has been a change of mood and it is expressing itself without constraint. Today I have a second conference to attend, this is down Bishopsgate and run by DG publishing.
I am a “devil” for both morning and afternoon and look forward to as enlightened a discussion as we had yesterday.
Roll on the Pension Bill and what follows.