Morning Sessions
Devil’s Advocates: Morning Panel
David Hare, IGC Chair, Phoenix Life
Matthew Webb, Head of Benefits, LSEG
08:30 – 09:00
Registration & Networking Breakfast
09:00 – 09:05
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Chair
Louise Farrand
Executive Director
Defined Contribution Investment Forum
09:05 – 09:45
Keynote: In conversation with Stephen Timms MP
Co-hosts of the V-FM Pensions Podcast, Darren Philp and Nico Aspinall speak to Stephen Timms MP, Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee on what Value for Money means to him and his Committee. Audience Q+A will provide an excellent opportunity for attendees to pose their own questions to Stephen. The session will also be recorded as a podcast and published the same week.
Interviewers
Nico Aspinall
V-FM Podcast
Darren Philp
V-FM Podcast
Interviewee
Stephen Timms
Chair
Work and Pensions Select Committee
09:45 – 10:25
Panel: LTAFs: the answer to the private markets riddle or a damp squib?
LTAFs were launched with great fanfare – but so far only a handful have launched. What’s delaying progress in this area? Are schemes finding other ways to access private markets? Will the path to greater access to private markets be smoother once schemes are bigger?
Moderator
Louise Farrand
Summit Chair
Panellists
Steve Budge
Partner
LCP
Imran Razvi
Senior Policy Adviser
The Investment Association
Mike Weston
Independent Trustee
Elena Zhmurova
Independent Consultant
10:25 – 10:45
Presentation: Private Debt
The private debt universe continues to grow and evolve. Where are the opportunities for DC investors and how could private debt make a difference to portfolio outcomes?
Presenter
Karen Lam
Head of Investment Specialists, Private Credit
M&G Investments
10:45 – 11:15
Coffee Break
11:15 – 11:50
Roundtable: Putting the S in ESG
The social element of ESG tends to be less well understood and acted on by pension schemes than the E and the G. However, the recent publication of the Guide from the Taskforce on Social Factors has given pension schemes greater clarity on how to approach social investments. In this roundtable discussion, we’ll examine social factors, exchange our ideas and progress reports in small groups.
11:50 – 12:10
Presentation: Private credit
With the strong regulatory tailwinds driving the shift into private markets, private credit remains the easiest and proven likely first step for schemes to enter these attractive asset classes. Following a period of volatility, high interest rates and inflation post-covid, the war in Ukraine and Liz Truss’s antics, how is it best to access the benefits of private credit and how did it fare?
Presenters
Murtaza Merchant
Managing Partner
MV Credit
Alex Thompson
Vice President
Loomis Sayles
12:10 – 12:50
Panel: Reinventing decumulation
Researchers are following people through their retirement years. Their observations should help pension schemes to learn important lessons about how to help people navigate their later lives. What does the industry need to do to make decumulation better? What solutions are emerging to smooth the path from accumulation into decumulation?
Moderator
Louise Farrand
Summit Chair
Panellists
James Fouracre
Director – UK Institutional
Ruffer
Hugo Gravell
Senior Investment Consultant
Barnett Waddingham
Emma Watkins
Managing Director, Retirement & Longstanding
Scottish Widows
Janette Weir
Co-founder
Ignition House
12:50 – 13:00
Devil’s Advocates Summaries
13:00 – 14:00
Lunch
Afternoon Sessions
Devil’s Advocates: Afternoon Panel
Terry Alleyne, Trustee Chair of Administration Committee, Citibank UK Pensions
Maggie Rodger, Co Chair, AMNT UK Pensions
14:00 – 14:30
Afternoon Keynote: An update on the DC regulatory landscape
This session will cover the latest on TPR’s direction of travel in relation to trustees and DC schemes – including what TPR will be expecting of trustees, and how TPR is setting itself up for the changing nature of the pensions market.
Speaker
Louise Davey
Interim Director of Regulatory Policy, Analysis and Advice
The Pensions Regulator
14:30 – 14:50
Presentation: Unlocking the Potential of LTAFs
Balancing private market investment characteristics with practical considerations.
Presenter
Mark Meiklejon
Head of Real Asset Investment Specialists
Aviva Investors
14:50 – 15:20
Panel: Space investment and finance: the new asset class that’s out of this world
Space investment is a new and exciting frontier for pension schemes. But what is space investment and how can you access this all-new asset class? Our speakers will introduce space investment and explain why pension schemes should have it on their radar.
Moderator
Louise Farrand
Summit Chair
Panellists
Sally Bridgeland
Independent Chair and Non-Executive Director
Nayen Pankhania
Strategy and Investment Director
Satellite Applications Catapult
15:20 – 15:40
Coffee Break
15:40 – 16:00
Presentation: Introduction to the Lifetime Savings Initiative
The Lifetime Savings Initiative brings together industry leaders from across the savings and pension landscape to understand the fundamental challenges people face in navigating their lifetime savings journey – including saving for a rainy day, housing, and long term savings (pensions). In this session we will find out more about their work to identify the key pinch points for everyday people and the change that they are hoping to drive across the industry to create a more equitable and sustainable national savings model.
Presenter
Britt Hoffman-Jones
The Lifetime Savings Initiative
16:00 – 16:40
Roundtable: Quick wins to make the pensions system better
A few speakers will introduce their top pensions quick win, before we break out into roundtable discussion groups. At the end of the session, we’ll regroup to discuss the quick wins that the industry could introduce today to transform the pensions system and savers’ retirement outcomes.
16:40 – 17:20
Panel: The master trust power panel
Master trusts are growing fast, and all eyes are on them as they tackle the challenges of the day and seek to lay the right foundations for future success. A panel of master trust leaders tell us what’s top of their agendas – and what’s on their worry lists.
Moderator
Louise Farrand
Summit Chair
Panellists
David Butcher
Independent Trustee
Eve Read
Senior Director of Strategic Delivery
Smart UK
Suzanne Rose
UK DC Leader
Mercer
Andrew Warwick-Thompson
Professional Trustee
17:20 – 17:30
Devil’s Advocate Summaries
17:30 – 17:35
Chair’s Closing Remarks
Chair
Louise Farrand
Executive Director
Defined Contribution Investment Forum
17:35 – 18:30
Drinks Reception
