Pensions Podcast

  We caught up with Karen Kendall in this episode of the Pensions Podcast, we discussed what has happened in Auto Enrolment since 2012 and what are the next steps for businesses and pension funds.  Dropout rates as well as considering the ways to run re-enrolment exercises. In addition, with companies set up within the last five years having to auto-enrol for the first time from 1st May, and the standard contribution rate rising next year, Quantum will look ahead to both dates and discuss how companies might handle communications around higher contributing and how to go about administering it, as well as tips for new companies given the experiences of those going through the process already. Karen joined Quantum in June 2007 as a Partner and is based in our London and Amersham offices. She was previously a senior consultant based in the London office of Buck Consultants at Xerox, a global pensions consultancy. A graduate of the University of London, she is a Fellow of the Pensions Management Institute and holds the Certificate in Financial Planning. She has over 20 years’ benefit consulting experience relating to arrangements provided by a range of UK and international organisations. Her work includes the coordination and delivery of employee benefit related services and strategic advice to a range of clients (including employer and trustee groups). In addition, she acts as secretary to the trustees for a number of pension schemes. Has joint responsibility for our service delivery of advice to clients across the firm as a whole.

We Caught up with Karen Heath and discuss all things communications in this week’s episode, As Head of Engagement, Karen has responsibility for AHC’s engagement strategy as well as the delivery of multi-faceted communication projects for some of AHC’s biggest clients. She has over 28 years’ commercial experience in large corporate organisations including 15 years in senior strategic and operational communication roles. Her corporate experience is combined with excellent pensions knowledge and a proven track record in developing engaging communications strategies for clients.  

In this week’s podcast, we are talking Administration look to address the ‘taboo’ subject of changing administrators. We discuss what schemes should be looking for in the modern industry landscape when appointing an administration supplier and explain the importance of reviewing their administrators regularly. They will also look how to manage the process and discuss the industry’s concerns involved in the transition process and how to avoid the potential cost risks involved We spoke to Daniel Taylor, Director at Trafalgar House and Alan Pickering who is one of the most respected names in pensions, Alan is trustee chair of no fewer than 9 pensions funds and has many years of experience to call upon.  This Podcast is packed full of great advice from Dan and Alan and you can contact them both at the respective company websites. www.trafalgarhouse.com www.bestrustees.co.uk

Damian heads up the Workplace Health and Wealth team for Barnett Waddingham.  He advises a range of UK corporate and trustee clients on their workplace health and wealth issues; from scheme design through to ongoing governance for defined contribution arrangements. We put the following to Damian, see what he thought by downloading or streaming the latest podcast below. 1) AE has been good for getting people enrolled into a scheme, are we seeing employers taking less time to develop DC offerings and instead opting for mastertrusts? 2) Many members will be surprised at what the pension buys them at current contribution levels when they come to retire, how should we increasing member engagement? 3) Who should be monitoring the DC scheme in members interests, we often see trustee boards (from DB schemes) who take up the task, does this impact on the level of risk being taken? 4) At the recent OECD event you asked about Infrastructure, and we can expect another report from them on this topic, what do you think should be being done in this space? 5) Pensions freedoms were also quoted at the same event as being dangerous, and members should look to annuities, should financial education play a better role in helping members shape retirement plans? 

Today we had Margaret Snowden OBE and Richard Butcher discussing Pensions Freedoms and the dashboard. Some of the questions we asked: 1) Pensions freedoms have have caused issues for some, one of the most common being early exit fee’s. The FCA’s cap will only scratch the surface according to some, how can those taking advantage of pensions freedoms avoid being caught out by high fees.  2) Another complaint is the hold up of data, issuing forms, what should pension funds do to ensure better administration? 3) Have Pensions Freedoms set is back by creating a “short term” attitude, should those with smaller pots be saving harder? 4) What effect will the pensions dashboard have on scheme members?  5) Will the dashboard help with the issue of small and lost pots in AE and DC schemes?

This week we had the pleasure of talking to Ben Habib Ben founded and is CEO of First Property Group plc, an award winning commercial property fund manager with operations in the United Kingdom and Central Europe. Prior to setting up First Property, Ben was Managing Director of a private property development company, JKL Property Ltd, from 1994 – 2000. He started his career in corporate finance in 1987 at Shearson Lehman Brothers. He moved in 1989 to PWS Holdings plc, a FTSE 350 Lloyds reinsurance broker, to be its Finance Director Over lunch we discussed some of the issues surrouning pensions investing by trustee boards. how do you approach working with pension funds  What do you think pension funds can do to steady investments in this time of economic uncertainty  Do you think Brexit is going to negatively affect pensions investing  If you could influence the government what changes would you like to see

This week we speak to Catherine McKenna head of the Squire Patton Boggs Pensions practice group . Her particular expertise is in providing advice to companies and trustees on all aspects of pensions law, including advice on managing pension risk and developing creative solutions to assist with funding shortfalls. She deals with pension plan restructuring, governance, and the pensions issues arising on corporate activity. Catherine also specialises in Pension Regulator applications and intervention, pension disputes and negotiating all types of pension fund investment management, custody and other third party agreements. In this episode we talk to Catherine about: What should trustee boards be looking out for over the next 12 months (any key legislation)  How is the landscape changing for risk management and Trustee governance (happy to plug your event)  How can pension funds be better prepared for the change that #Brexit and other economic factors they will face over coming years If you were advising the government what changes would you like to see come in to effect to support pension funds.  listen below or visit the app/android store and download the latest podcast (you can also listen to our archive)

The conclusion to the PLSA annual conference challenge, Steve Webb and Greg McClymont bring the teams back for the conclusion of 3 days of fact finding.  This podcast includes audio footage of the teams in the exhibition hall asking questions of providers and sharing answers the majority of the workforce will find interesting, especially if you have ever wondered what happens to your money when its deducted each month.

AFTER BREXIT – BRITAIN, BUSINESS AND GLOBAL TRADE What does negotiating a new set of trade deals really involve? What are the challenges and opportunities for the UK? How long will negotiations take? How do we approach this, Former Director General of the World Trade organisation gives his expert view on the Brexit process and gives us insight into some of the things we should expect along the way Pascal Lamy, former Director-General, World Trade Organisation

Richard Harrington shares his experience of the first 3 months in pensions with the PLSA annual conference audience in Liverpool. The government has promissed a Britain that works ‘for every one of us’  In his first address to the PLSA, the new Pensions Minister explains what this means for the Government’s agenda on retirement saving

Live from Liverpool at the PLSA Annual Conference we bring you coverage of todays session SAVING MORE – THE CONFERENCE CHALLENGE ROUND I – THE BRIEF What are the retirement income prospects for today’s savers and how can we help them to save more? We meet two teams of people from outside our industry and their expert coaches as they get to work on a 3-day ‘conference challenge’ to help people like them save more.  

In this episode Louise Naughton talks to Gareth Tancred about his first few months in charge at the Pensions Management Institute.  What are his thoughts on the pensions industry and the issues we face. For more great podcasts visit the podcast home page or you download and subscribe at the app store.  

In this episode Louise talks to Paul Battye of Moorlands Human Capital about the changing role of Pensions Managers and Trustees. We look at how those in the role are embracing the challenges ahead. This episode was recorded live in a coffee shop.   https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/pensionscheme/Podcast+3+Paul+B.mp3

This week we talk to the Pensions Minister Baroness Ros Altman about the work with SMEs and Automatic Enrolment, her ambitions for pensions reform, how the industry should be engaging savers and how she became Pensions Minister. The Minister also shares some thought on her carer and how she got to the top not only in the private sector but now also in politics. We also talk to David Harris MD of Tor Financial about lessons the UK can learn from counties who have been through Automatic Enrolment, his vies on what has been happening with reforms, why NEST should be privatised and his top three things to do as Pensions Minister.  

Welcome to the Pensions podcast, aimed at professionals working in and around the pensions and retirement sector. We will try and keep it jargon free for any trustees or pension fund members who find their way here and want to try and get a grip on some of the issues and trends. This is our first podcast and will serve as an introduction and give you a flavor of what you can expect to come. We will go out and find the things you need to know, might have missed and put it together here for you to download and listen to, weather your in the office, on your way to or from work. All the links from the show will be also put on the website and from our social media accounts. We will be looking at pensions on a global scale so we can see what lessons can be learned, especially from Australia, New Zealand, United states, South Africa, Chile and Europe. All of which have seen dramatic change and are well ahead of the UK in many respects. I will also be bringing you exclusive interviews and vox pops from the meetings and events that we get out to aim to bring a wide and broad base of opinions and views as our ethos is based around peer to peer learning across all the brands. We’re very excited to have the Pensions Minister coming in to talk to us over the next few weeks so if you have a question email the show and we will put that to Ross when she comes in. First up we will take a look at what has been happening in the news The regulator has warned about Master Trusts posing risks to members “new master trusts being subject to far less regulatory scrutiny than new contract-based providers. We are working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure adequate member protections are in place within master trusts.” says Andrew Warwick Thompson off the back of 80% of AE members being within a Mastertrust. Well at least the members are in a pension, “down to you to well urm Regulate”. Second story i liked this week is again on the Mastertrust line from Henry Tapper and the Playpens research into workplace pensions providers, a copy of this can be found on his blog. in summary Peoples pension come out on top with intermediaries, NEST are in the top 5 but are still the most used provider. I am sure if you have any questions or want more info track down henry on social media he’ll be more than happy to help. The PSLA reports says savers are slow to embrace freedoms, long and short of it is that ? of those eligible are considering how and what to do, PLSA head of research and policy (Jackie Wells), said complex terminology had potentially confused ‘actioners’.(i will say adding more jargon and terminology “actioners” is hardly going to help, and the report also states Only 1 in 10 have used the government’s pension wise service. full copy of the press release and report on the PSLA website. Research – another couple of good industry research reports out over the last few months are the AON Hewitt DC survey results, this has been going for over 10 years and has some great trends. It is also surprising to see in some areas that member behavior has not changed, i don’t want to go into too much detail today as we are hoping to get them on the show for the DC special to discuss the results. And Secondly the Research by Tor Financial Consulting for the Defined Contribution Investment Forum – Global Comparisons of DC Plan Investment Design, looks at some of the outcomes of retirement saving in Australia, Chile, New Zealand, South Africa and the US. It has been compiled with the help of experts in Australia, New Zealand and the US. The report provides insights for the UK in what the future may hold for DC members and retirees as pension freedoms and auto-enrolment become more of a reality. Trends and observations are grouped in six major themes. you can get a copy from the DC Investment Forum or from David Harris MD of TOR Financial. Well that’s all from me for this week, We’ll be back next week with another roundup from the world of Lifetime Savings and some interviews, these will be announced next week on the twitter feed. If you would like to get involved and have a story or a view you would like to share get in touch.