About the conference

The Pensions Conference 2012 will be held on Brighton seafront, in the hive of culture, creativity and candyfloss (and pensions regulation!) that pervades this town on the south coast of England. We are hopeful that this eclectic and creative atmosphere will rub off on delegates as they approach the conference, as the theme of our conference is “Fresh Perspectives”...

A criticism often levelled at pensions professionals is that they are stuck in their ways and resistant to change. Whilst this is for the most part unfair, if we’re honest, we are all occasionally guilty of accepting long-held views and failing to question them, or of failing to challenge ourselves to find new ways to tackle the problems we face. We are confident that this will all change at the Pensions Conference 2012! We would like to empower all delegates to make a real contribution to the conference, for example by participating in workshops, asking questions and discussing and debating the topics raised during the breaks and over a drink or two in the evening.

Some of the big questions we will be tackling at this year’s conference are: How do we create and maintain a truly sustainable pension system? Are we on the right track or is the model fundamentally wrong? What barriers are there to making any changes and how might these be overcome? Are many current defined contribution schemes genuinely capable of providing an adequate income in retirement - if not, how should they be changed or what alternative structures should be considered? What can we learn from the approach to pensions employed in Europe and around the world? Are different solutions necessary within the public and private sectors?

The debate surrounding the proposed changes to public sector pensions has highlighted the difficulty of designing and implementing changes which are both sustainable in terms of cost, but also fair and acceptable to the members. The controversy surrounding these changes has also demonstrated that the public feel very strongly about their pensions and are desperate to ensure that they are able to enjoy a comfortable retirement. As the experts in this field, it is critical that we are proactive rather than reactive on this issue, promoting innovative and effective solutions.

We have put together an intriguing and engaging programme of plenary and workshop sessions on a broad range of technical and non-technical topics, and have once again managed to secure a number of eminent speakers to provide a diverse range of fresh perspectives on the issues of the day.

Central to the development of new research within the actuarial profession are the various “working parties” which exist to explore and develop ideas on specific topics. With the pace of change in the world of pensions being what it is, the ability of these working parties to provide the rest of the profession with information and insight is more critical than ever. At the 2012 conference we will be running a set of “Hot Research” workshop sessions as a twist on the “Hot Topics” sessions that have been a very successful feature of the conference programme over recent years. The Hot Research workshops will give a number of current working parties the opportunity to showcase their ideas and seek feedback and comments from delegates. If you feel inspired to join a working party, or to set up your own working party on a particular topic, there will be an opportunity for you to register your interest.

At the 2011 conference, for the first time delegates were able to use text messages and Twitter to ask questions during the plenaries and comment on all aspects of the conference. Whilst this pilot was a success, we hope to make even more use of social media at the 2012 conference. We encourage you to tweet or text, whatever your preference, and we will do our best to ensure that your voice is heard.

I must take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to the conference organising committee, and a similarly huge thank you to the Actuarial Profession’s events management team, without whom this event wouldn’t run at all, let alone smoothly!

I hope you enjoy the 2012 conference and will travel home with a fresh perspective.

Mark Williams

Chairman, Pensions Conference Programme Committee 2012