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Videos and audio files of selected events and conferences relevant to Pensions.

Pensions Winter Forum 2021

Corporate Transactions

Over recent months there has been a sharp rise in M&A activity involving British businesses, with interest from overseas, domestic buyers and Private Equity investors.  

In many cases the businesses at the centre of this sponsor substantial defined benefit pension schemes, Morrisons and Meggitt being recent examples. The ramifications of new owners, and the change in financing structure this often brings with it can have significant implications on the resources available to support the pension scheme over both the short and longer-term. Potential bidders may be wary of the long-term commitments involved with the pension scheme, while trustees will wish to ensure their members’ interests are protected. 

Against this backdrop the Pension Schemes Act 2021 introduces new requirements and sanctions designed to prevent changes to businesses being to the detriment of pension schemes.  

Discussions in this session included recent trends in the pensions aspects of corporate transactions, and the implications of PSA 2021 with four professionals actively involved in the market, with very different backgrounds and experience.  

Also discussed: 
•    How potential bidders view DB pension schemes when assessing a business and potential red-flags.   
•    The importance of employer covenant, and how to assess it
•    How we are seeing the PSA21 shape transactions and the role of the Pensions Regulator.

Speakers: 

Alex Hutton-Mills, Cardano Advisory. Alex is a Senior Managing Director and co-founder of Cardano Advisory (formerly known as Lincoln Pensions), Susan Anyan, Capital Cranfield, Dawn Heath, Freshfields, Richard Pinder, LCP, Helen Draper (Chair). 

Pensions Winter Forum: Practical aspects of blending annuities and drawdown in retirement

The IFoA Policy Briefing 'Can we help consumers avoid running out of money in retirement' examined the benefits of blending a lifetime annuity with income drawdown. Panellists, including providers and advisers, will look at the market practicalities of taking the actuarial theory through into the core advice propositions used by IFAs and Fund Managers. They will share a number of practical issues such as investment consequences before and after retirement and the level of annuity that is appropriate and answer questions from the audience. Speakers: Adrian Boulding, Chairman, Spire Platform Solutions, Adrian BouldingEmma Watkins, Managing Director of Retirement and Longstanding, Scottish Widows Watkins; Rupert Smith, IFA; Andrew Gilbert, Head of Product Development, Growth & Innovation, Just Retirement (Actuary); Peter Ellis, CEO, Spire Platform Solutions Peter Ellis (Chair)

Pensions Winter Forum: Pensions and Sustainability - challenges for actuaries

With a focus on climate change, this session provided informed insight to enable you to improve your knowledge and understanding of the issues involved, demonstrated how it will impact advice to your clients, and highlighted prospective opportunities for actuaries within pensions and wider fields. Speaker: Neil Mitchell, University of Manchester’s Global Development Institute

Pensions Winter Forum: Pension Scams

Pension scams have become more prevalent as a result of the pandemic, and Trustees have increased responsibilities to protect members, which means that actuaries need to be in a position to provide advice in this area. Our specialist panel included a professional trustee, an IFA, and head administrator, two of whom are members of PASA. You will hear, on the webinar recording, about the latest pension scam trends, tPR’s pledge, and real case studies. 

Speakers: Sean Browes, Dalriada Trustees; James Ellison, Chief Operating Offcer, WPS Advisory, and Chair DB TV Working Group at PASA; Girish Menezes, Head of Admin at Premier Pensions, Director of the Pensions Administration Standards Association and on the Advisory Council of the Pensions Management Institute.

2021

Mirror, mirror on the wall, is our pensions system fair at all?

Pensions Conference 2021

The CMI model and Covid 19 – how do we apply the model in a time of uncertainty?
The CMI model is used by most pension schemes to set future mortality assumptions. It’s strength is its independence, transparency and use of public data. However, Covid 19 means that the usual annual update cannot be applied without additional consideration. Actuaries, trustees and sponsors need to actively decide how much the experience of 2020 should be allowed for in the setting of future assumptions – is 2020 a complete outlier, some guide to future experience or actually an indication that things may change completely? In this session, Cobus Daneel, Chair of the CMI Mortality Projections Committee, will give an overview of how the CMI has adjusted the model in response to Covid 19. This will be followed by a panel discussion on the practical applications and considerations for setting mortality assumptions from a trustee, corporate and risk transfer perspective.

Today’s macroeconomic picture – a review and outlook
This timely webinar looks at how the current low yield environment impacts on key asset classes and liability drive investment techniques, and aims to answer whether the hunt for yield is really necessary.

Endgame options for smaller DB schemes
This session focusses on the challenges that smaller DB schemes face and the solutions currently available in the market, aiming to build on research undertaken by other parties highlighting the disproportionate levels of costs that smaller DB schemes shoulder, the barriers to good governance and consideration of expected member outcomes. Jonathan Punter and Stuart Southall provide unique insight reflecting their experiences of dealing with smaller DB schemes and their motivation for developing Stoneport, the newly launched small scheme consolidator vehicle. They will provide detail on the structure and operation of Stoneport and the benefits achieved by pooling all scheme risks (relating to assets, liabilities and covenant). An overview of the current options available within the market to address these challenges (including alternative endgame strategies) will also be provided.

Risk Sharing within Pension Schemes
The current re-design of the Dutch pension system includes the following elements: a defined contribution pension for each participant plus a solidarity buffer that serves as a risk-sharing mechanism to smooth returns between participants in the pension fund, leading to a form of pensions that is in between pure DC and collective DC. This webinar briefly summarizes the literature on optimal risk sharing before assessing the welfare effects of the current Dutch pension proposal and compare this to theoretically optimal risk sharing arrangements. It will demonstrate that a solidarity buffer with sufficiently risky investment can achieve results that approximate the optimal utility benefits of “unconstrained” intergenerational risk sharing.

Climate change – a call to action for pension schemes
This webinar covers the updated IFoA Working Party guide to climate change for DC pension schemes and demonstrates actions for schemes and advisors to take, covering climate risk, net-zero, stewardship and transformative digital member engagement. It also includes case studies from schemes.

With £180bn+ deals completed to date in the UK, PIC discuss current trends & pricing for bulk annuities
With an estimated £30m bulk annuities transacted in 2020, Uzma Nazir, Head of Origination Structuring and Rachel Jervis, Longevity Risk Manager at PIC, discuss trends in the bulk annuity market including the role of reinsurance. The talk will discuss: Trends in the bulk annuity market Pricing of transactions Buyout in one transaction verses multiple tranches of buy-ins over time Asset sourcing in the current environment Role of reinsurance in the bulk annuity market Reinsurance trends, including the impact of COVID-19 Recent transactions and case studies 2021 and beyond.

GMPs - Conversion at retirement
We expect a number of Trustees to consider a conversion at retirement approach for equalising the GMP of their non-pensioners members and for many schemes this is likely to be an optimal solution. We will provide an overview of Mercer’s approach to conversion at retirement, including actuarial advice and certification, conversion, calculations, member communications and practical considerations, drawing on our experience of implementing this for our clients.

And they’re off…but which GMP equalisation method has its nose in front?
This session will provide the latest insight on the current status of the main GMP equalisation methods and how they stack up against each other from an actuarial and practical perspective, encompassing latest developments from the industry GMP Equalisation Working Group. It will be framed as a game, forcing the debate ‘off the fence’ and providing a clear indication of which method looks like it is out in front.

Club Vita - Understanding COVID-19: A shot in the arm for risk management?
Pandemics, vaccines, volatility, trends – has there ever been a time in recent history when longevity has been so regularly in the news? In order to fully understand how pension scheme funding and risk transfer might be impacted by these fluctuations, it will be important to look past the headlines and determine how emerging longevity trends affect different groups of people – whether that be age, gender, regional or socio-economic group. In this presentation, Steven Baxter and Mark Sharkey from Club Vita will draw on insights from research that sees data for 1 in 4 UK DB pensioners regularly studied to identify emerging patterns in mortality. This, coupled with comparisons from around the globe, will allow us to focus in on how COVID-19 and other shifts in longevity are impacting pension scheme liabilities and changing the nature of longevity risk in a post pandemic world.

Towards Improved Retirement Savings Outcomes for Women
The webinar will assess the gender gap in retirement income and the contribution of retirement savings arrangements to that gap. It will then analyse the drivers of the gender gap in retirement savings arrangements stemming from labour market and other factors. It will finally provide policy guidelines that would contribute to reducing the gender pension gap. Speaker: Stéphanie Payet, Policy Analyst, OECD’s Private Pensions Unit.

Regulation and ESG
This webinar covers the obligation on actuaries to recognise the impact of their actions on the public interest, changes in the regulatory environment formalising that obligation and one of the practical ways in which pension fund stakeholders can make a positive difference in this important area. Webinar resource for ESG case studies.

2021

Pensions: Actuarial Factors used to Calculate Benefits in UK Pension Schemes

The IFoA’s Actuarial Review Team has published its first thematic review, which looked at the actuarial advice given by scheme actuaries to UK pension scheme trustees on setting transfer values and commutation rates. This is the first time the IFoA has been able to review independently, in a regulatory context, the standard of work being carried out in practice by actuaries. This webinar gives members the opportunity to learn about the Review, its findings and recommendations and provides a forum for feedback and discussion.

2020

Autumn Pensions Webinar Series 2020
December 2020

Update from The Pensions Regulator (TPR)
Speaker: Fiona Frobisher, Pension Regulator
A recording of this webinar is available for members to purchase. If you are not a member please contact vle.admin@actuaries.org.uk to process your order.

To the end game and beyond
Speakers: Adolfo Aponte, Lincoln Pensions; Rhian Littlewood, Phoenix Life; Kevin Wesbroom, Capital Cranfield
A recording of this webinar is available for members to purchase. If you are not a member please contact vle.admin@actuaries.org.uk to process your order.

Cash is King - What next for CDI?
Speaker: Norbert Fullerson, Janus Henderson
A recording of this webinar is available for members to purchase. If you are not a member please contact vle.admin@actuaries.org.uk to process your order.

Legal update - The letter of the law
Speaker: Patrick Kennedy, Partner at Gateley Legal and Founding Director of Entrust

Pensions Conference 2020 
June/July 2020

To read the full synopsis of each webinar please visit the Pensions Conference 2020 webinar series page and select the 'Programme' tab

GMP Equalisation
Speaker: Mark Williams, Buck
A recording of this webinar is available for members to purchase. If you are not a member please contact vle.admin@actuaries.org.uk to process your order.

AMS Thematic Review Programme & changes to the CPD Scheme
Speakers: Judith Joy and David Gordon, IFoA
A recording of this webinar is available for members to purchase. If you are not a member please contact vle.admin@actuaries.org.uk to process your order.

Public Service Pensions – Good Pensions that last
Speakers: Dale Walmsley, First Actuarial LLP and Stephen Humphrey, Government Actuary’s Department
A recording of this webinar is available for members to purchase. If you are not a member please contact vle.admin@actuaries.org.uk to process your order.

Decumulation in pension plans: Income drawdown and pooled annuities
Speakers: Tim Jablonski, EValue and Catherine Donnelly, Heriot Watt University
A recording of this webinar is available for members and non-members to purchase. If you are not a member please contact vle.admin@actuaries.org.uk to process your order.

Integrated Risk Management- Pensions Risky Business
Speaker: John Breedon, Buck
A recording of this webinar is available for members and non-members to purchase. If you are not a member please contact vle.admin@actuaries.org.uk to process your order.

Longevity - CMI Update
Speakers: Cobus Daneel, Chair of the Mortality Projections Committee.

2019

Pensions Conference 2019
18-19 June 2019

If you attended this conference you cannot claim CPD for watching the conference videos online.

Plenary 2: GMPs: Equalisation Through Conversion
(Length 01:01:15)

Workshop A2: Why Climate Change is a Survival Issue for Pensoions Schemes: The Maths!
(Length 01:03:06)

Plenary 3: Code of Practice - Pensions Bill
(Length 00:51:21)

Workshop C1: Bulk Annuities - Finding Solutions to an Increased Demand
(Length 01:01:12)

Plenary 4: Consolidation
(Length 01:01:18)

Workshop: Self-sufficiency, Buyout and Consolidation
(Length 00:43:29)

 

2018
The CMI Webinar - "S3" Mortality Tables
Friday 14 December 2018
(Length 00:58:24)

Pensions Conference 2018
4-5 June 2018

If you attended this conference you cannot claim CPD for watching the conference videos online.

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Plenary 1: Transparency
(Length 00:50:39)

Plenary 2: The Pensions Solution at the Royal Mail
(Length 00:54:41)

Plenary 3: Climate Risk - Practical Steps to Move Forward on an Informed Climate Strategy and Avoid Liability
(Length 01:00:25)

 

2017

Thatcher Pension Reforms Witness Seminar
(Length 01:54:20)
Wednesday 6 December 2017

Personal Risk Management for Non-Executive Directors
(Length 01:32:02)
Tuesday 14 November 2017

Retirement Readiness
(Length 01:12:06)
Thursday 12 October 2017

This international research examines individual’s expectations and preparations for retirement, across generations, genders, and three countries, Australia, United Kingdom, and United States. The report also proposes a number of recommendations to help individuals better prepare for retirement based on these results

Risk, Investment, Pensions Conference 2017
5-7 June 2017

If you attended this conference you cannot claim CPD for watching the conference videos online.

Plenary 2: The Professional Toolkit: A Simple Approach to Managing and Assessing Culture in the Workplace 
(Length 01:03:45)
Pensions session: Workshop A1: Making tax on retirement savings fair and efficient
(Length 00:49:08)
Pensions session: Workshop B1: Is Selling Gilts for Buy-in the Best Way of Securing Pension Promises?
(Length 00:46:13)
Pensions session: Workshop C2: Running off Mature Schemes
(00:42:38)
Risk and Pensions Plenary 5: If DB Pensions Didn’t Exist, Would We Invent Them?
(00:58:41)
Finance and Investment Sessions: Workshop D5: QE and the Inflation Dogma; Does it Work and Does it Make Sense?
(Length 00:48:31)
Pensions Sessions: Workshop E2: Fiduciary Duty - The Past, the Present, the Future
(Length 00:43:02)
Finance and Investment and Pensions Plenary 6: Intergenerational Fairness
(Length 00:59:38)
Plenary 7: Future for Actuaries?
(00:54:29)

 

2016

Momentum 2016
30 November - 2 December 2016

If you attended this conference you cannot claim CPD for watching the conference videos online.

Plenary 1: Why networking is important for your career and the skills to succeed
Plenary 2 Lightning talks (hot topics in 60 minutes)
Plenary 3: Winners curse - Game theory and insurance pricing
Plenary 4: Panel discussion on Brexit

Current Hightlights in Pensions 2016
24 November 2016

Plenary 1 - Professional Skills
Workshop A1 - The PLSA DB Taskforce
Plenary 2 - Intrapreneurship for Actuaries

Pensions Risk and Investment Conference 2016
 31 May - 2 June 2016

If you attended this conference you cannot claim CPD for watching the conference videos online.

Sessions available:
Plenary 2: Is the New Normal High Risk and Low Returns?
Plenary 3: Have we Undermined the Ability of Pension Funds and Life Companies to Invest Long-term?
Plenary 5a: Risk Plenary; Building Better Judgements
Plenary 5b: Helping People Make the Most of Their Pensions
Plenary 6: The End of Certainty – Why we Should Regret the Passing of DC, What Caused it and What can We Do – A Challenge?
Plenary 7: The Magic of Behavioural Economics

 

Current Issues in Pensions
20 April 2016, video

Sessions available:
Plenary 1: An Economist’s perspective on the UK economy
A commentary on the current UK and global economic environment and implications for markets and interest rates.
Speakers from Deutsche Bank

Plenary 2: Integrated Risk Management
This session will look at integrated risk management from a consultant’s perspective and how the principles can be applied in practice
Speakers from KPMG
 

Plenary 3: The Increasing Influence of the Employer Covenant
This session will highlight the impact of employer covenant on actuarial assumptions, recovery plan length and investment strategy from the perspective of a covenant assessor, using case studies to highlight the implications of movement in covenant ratings.
Speakers from Lincoln Pensions

Plenary 4: The Customer’s View
A professional trustee will look at what Trustees expect from their Scheme Actuary and consider what is good and what is bad from the perspective of the “customer”. 
In addition, this session will offer some examples of good and bad practice from the perspective of a regular user of these services within the context of issues that Trustees struggle to get to grips with in the current climate.
Speakers from Capital Cranfield

Plenary 5: Pensions Freedom, DB transfers and the future
A senior TPAS official and an experienced industry practitioner give their views on pension freedoms experience to date and their impact on member choices and on DB transfer advice in the new environment.  They will also share their thoughts on the direction of travel of pensions in the future.
Speakers from TPAS and Deloitte

2015
Duties and Responsibilities for Actuaries Working for Trust-Based Pre-Paid Funeral Plans
Video
Changes to the State Pension Ages
Video
Pension Funds and Life Companies: Are they fit for purpose?
Video

Current Issues in Pensions Seminars 2015
24 March 2015, video

Sessions available:
Plenary 1: DB Risk Management and Liability Reduction Session
Speaker:David St Cyr, First Actuarial
Plenary 2: Implications for DB Schemes of the New Flexibilities in DC
Speaker: Richard Gibson, Barnett Waddingham LLP
Plenary 3: New European Parliament, new European Commission, new solvency requirements for pension schemes
Speaker: Mark Dowsey, Towers Watson
Plenary 4: Helping guide people to through their retirement options
Speaker: Michelle Cracknell , Pensions Advisory Service
Plenary 5: Summary of presentation: “Recent case law and future implications”
Speaker: Anne-Marie Winton, Nabarro
Plenary 6: A new approach to reviewing actuarial work and other regulatory developments
Speakers: Graham Everness, Towers Watson and Christine McConnell, IFoA

Health and Care 2015: Workshop A2: protection and Care Needs in Later Life
Video
Actuaries of the Future
Video

Pensions Conference 2015 - Plenary Videos
24-26 June 2015

If you attended this conference you cannot claim CPD for watching the conference videos online.

Sessions available:
Plenary 1 - How to see into the future
Speaker : Tim Harford, The Undercover Economist
Plenary 2 - Adventures in de-risking
Speakers: Adrian Hartshorn, Mercer; Emma Watkins, Scottish Widows and Clive Wellsteed, LCP LLP
Plenary 3 - Why mental accounting matters: an introduction to the everyday instincts that guide our decisions about money
Speaker: Nick Southgate
Plenary 4 - Panel discussion - 101 uses of an actuary
Speakers: Zahir Fazal, BESTrustees plc; Padraig Floyd, Journalist and Alan Dick, fortytwo
Plenary 5 - The new normal - creating diverse and inclusive cultures
Speaker: Charlotte Sweeney, Charlotte Sweeney Associates Ltd
Plenary 6 - What’s next for the world economy?
Speaker: Frances Cairncross, Economist, Journalist and Academic

Momentum Conference 2015
2-4 December 2015, video

If you attended this conference you cannot claim CPD for watching the conference videos online.

Videos available are:
Plenary 1: We Need to Talk about Sustainability - How are Actuaries going to Face Climate Change and Other 21st Century Issues
Speakers: Nico Aspinall, Towers Watson and Louise Pryor
Plenary 2: Behavioural Finance and Retirement Decision Making
Speaker: Iain Clacher, Leeds University Business School
Plenary 3: Expert Judgement
Speakers: Kieran Barnes, Bank of England and Stephen Makin, Hymans Robertson
Plenary 4: A Career as a Chief Investment Officer - Could You Have What it Takes?
Speakers: Jan Coetzee, Swiss Re; Alasdair MacDonald, Towers Watson and Ian McKinlay, Lloyds Banking Group

GIRO 2015 Plenary Videos
20-23 October 2015

If you attended this conference you cannot claim CPD for watching the conference videos online.

Sessions available:
Plenary 1: Insurance in a Changed World
Plenary 2: Who Profits? Delivering an Ethical Return
Plenary 3: Alleviating Reserving Stress
Plenary 5: Modelling: The Next Generation
Plenary 6: Tomorrow's World: Customer, Investor or Risk?
Plenary 7: Keynote Speaker - Professor John Kay CBE
Plenary 8: Professional Skills - Members Behaving Badly?

2014

Current Issues in Pensions Seminars 2014
25 March 2014, video

Session available:
Do defined ambition schemes have longevity? An analysis of how defined ambition will survive the test of time
Jenny Richards, Punter Southall & Michael Hendry, Towers Watson
'What's hot in the regulatory world'
Speakers: Neil Hilary & Christine McConnell, IFoA
Current issues in investment
Speaker: David Bennett, Redington
Experian and changes to the PPF risk measure
Speaker: Chris Collins, PPF & Rob Haslingdon, Experian
Legal developments in pensions
Speaker: Alastair Meeks, Pinsent Masons
What makes a good buy-in transaction?
Speakers: Colette Christiansen, Towers Watson & Uzma Nazir, Pensions Insurance Corporation

Pensions Conference 2014 - Plenary Videos
18-20 June 2014

If you attended this conference you cannot claim CPD for watching the conference videos online.

Sessions available:
Plenary 1: A View from the Pensions Lifeboat - an Eight Year Perspective
Speaker: Martin Clarke, PPF
Plenary 2: If we knew then what we know now: how Medical Advances have Influenced Longevity in the Past, Along with Expectations for the Future
Speakers: Aubrey de Grey, Sens Research Foundation and Daniel Ryan, Swiss Re
Plenary 4: The Risky Business of Being a Pensions Actuary
Speaker: Sally Bridgeland
Plenary 5: Decisions, Biases and Heuristics: Implications of Behavioural Finance for Pension Funds, their Members and their Advisors
Speakers: Gordon Clark, Oxford University, Iain Clacher, Leeds University Business School, Marcus Hurd, Buck Consultants and Steve Vernon, Stanford Center on Longevity

The Implications of the Scottish Independence Referendum for Financial Services
Video
2013
Spring Lecture 2013
Video
Pensions Investment in Infrastructure
Video
Autumn Lecture 2013
Video

Current Issues in Pensions 2013
April 2013, video

If you attended this conference you cannot claim CPD for watching the conference videos online.

Sessions available:
IORP II - Where Are We Now?
Speaker: Dave Roberts, Towers Watson
Assessing Sponsor Covenant for the Holistic Balance Sheet
Speaker: Craig Turnbull, Barrie & Hibbert
Funding in the Current Climate
Speakers: David Hamilton, JLT and Danny Vassiliades, Punter Southall
Cautionary Tales
Speaker: Keith Webster, Osborne Clarke
Effective Liability Management
Speaker: Mark van den Berghen, Buck Consultants
Member Options - Getting it Right
Speaker: Alan Smith, First Actuarial
Improving DC member outcomes
Speaker: Marcus Mollan, Legal & General

Current Highlights in Pensions Seminar 2013
Video
Momentum Conference 2013
If you attended this conference you cannot claim CPD for watching the conference videos online.
Video
Conflicts of Interests, Interactive Session (Pensions)
21 January 2013, video
2012
Momentum Conference 2012
If you attended this conference you cannot claim CPD for watching the conference videos online.
Video

 

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