David Walmsley kicked off an Endgame Conference organised by Professional Pensions
More than half (54%) of schemes are in surplus on a full buy-out basis, three quarters are fully solvent. This is for TPR a new world.
A new way to self sufficiency must have an investment strategy that isn’t bumped our of solvency.
Schemes must still show how they will stand up to stress. I suspect that what is happening in the markets today will be a test case.
Innovation is fine but it must be safe to the scheme. That means to pay the promised pension,
Buy out may no longer be the gold standard. Trustees may wish to run on, trustees can explore surplus pensions being shared with sponsors and members, There is a wish from the TPR for the surplus to be shared responsibly.
The Pensions Regulator is prepared to accept alternatives. We did not talk of Stagecoach/Aberdeen but it was clearly in the back of David Walmsley’s mind. He was pressed to explain what he meant by innovation and he said he couldn’t. He said he was expecting three superfunds putting themselves forward for authorisation in the next three months. They have all used their innovation service,
As far as testing Schemes’s capacity to cope with market volatility there was interest in how TPR considered what the volatility we’re seeing now were impacting its view. TPR is likely to make a statement after the end of the month.
He wanted schemes to get on with surplus sharing preparations rather than wait for a code from TPR .
There was a question on AI and in particular AI agentic pension advice. This had been a question at a recent administration meeting in the same room earlier month.
David was asked whether advisers should be regulated. He said they were regulated but not necessarily by TPR.
Small schemes are looking at sharing surplus, but there aren’t many small schemes around yet.
The biggest data for the TPR was the biggest risk for schemes and employers considering their endgame – DATA. This had been the main threat to success for those in the room.
The questions ended with a question as to whether more trustees should be appointed not just to small schemes but to bigger schemes. Walmsley said TPR were preparing an answer.
A steady as you go talk from David Walmsley (in my opinion)
