Morning Sessions
Morning Devil’s Advocate Panel
Jonathan Reynolds, Professional Trustee, Capital Cranfield
Stephen Tiley, Pension Funds Manager & Trustee, WH Smith Pensions & Benevolent Fund
Dawn Turner, Independent Adviser & NED
08:15 – 09:00
Registration & Networking Breakfast
09:00 – 09:05
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Speaker
Louise Farrand
Chair
DC Strategic Summit
09:05 – 09:40
Keynote Panel: Less liquid assets in DC
The Productive Finance Working Group has been working to make less liquid assets in DC a reality. In this session, we’ll hear insights into the group’s work and what it has achieved.
Moderator
Louise Farrand
Chair
DC Strategic Summit
Panellists
Iren Levina
Senior Adviser
Productive Finance Working Group
Emma Douglas
Chair
The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association
Sonia Kataora
Chair of the Consultants’ Workstream
The Productive Finance Working Group
09:40 – 10:20
Panel: Bonds and increasingly sophisticated asset allocation
The fixed income landscape is changing with the ending of QE, persistently high inflation and aggressive rate rises. Plus, an LDI crisis that highlighted the perils of illiquidity. Government bond yields do not stack up well versus current inflation, but at the other end of the spectrum, in high yield, we are expecting a default cycle. Historically, investment grade is resilient, but is it different this time? How does the recent banking crisis present an opportunity? What does this all mean for fixed income allocations?
Moderator
Louise Farrand
Chair
DC Strategic Summit
Panellists
Nico Aspinall
Independent Consultant
Lloyd Harris
Head of Fixed Income
Premier Miton Investors
10:20 – 10:40
Interview: The future of Private Markets – looking a decade ahead
What does the future look like and how could investors take advantage of opportunities arising from the structural shifts in the global economy? Private assets will be instrumental in delivering the change required to transition our economy to its future state. Defined Contribution schemes will have the opportunity to align their investments with the key megatrends which are set to benefit from structural, political and economic tailwinds in the years to come.
Interviewer
Louise Farrand
Chair
DC Strategic Summit
Interviewee
Mike Howard
Head of Alternative Investments
M&G Investments
10:40 – 11:15
Workshop: Holding risk assets for longer – how do we do it?
Holding risk assets for longer is one potential way DC savers could benefit from more comfortable retirements. CDC is the most discussed way DC schemes could hold risk assets for longer. What are the advantages of CDC versus other ways of holding risk assets for longer? What are some of the alternatives?
Chair
Adrian Boulding
Chairman
Spire Platform Solutions
11:15 – 11:45
Coffee Break
11:45 – 12:25
Panel: Innovating to prepare portfolios for future shocks and protect member outcomes
2022 showed that we cannot rely on the traditional 60/40 portfolio to provide DC savers with the diversification they need. Is this type of investing dead? This panel will discuss innovation in default funds, and what learnings DC investors are taking away from the tumult of 2022. What might the impact have been on portfolios if DC schemes had been more diversified last year and invested in areas like private markets?
Moderator
Louise Farrand
Chair
DC Strategic Summit
Panellists
James Beaumont
Head of Multi-Asset Portfolio Management
Natixis Investment Managers
Naomi Clark
Head of Investment Product
USS Investment Management
Murtaza Merchant
Partner and Head of Fund Optimisation
MV Credit
12:25 – 12:45
Presentation: What do consumers actually want from pensions dashboards?
Richard Smith unveils new research on what consumers want from pensions dashboards and gives the audience a progress update on the programme. What should schemes be doing to prepare? How could dashboards evolve over the longer term?
Presenter
Richard Smith
Independent Dashboards Expert
12:45 – 13:35
Lunch
Afternoon Sessions
Afternoon Devil’s Advocate Panel
Lucy Blanchard-Burton, Pensions Manager, Scottish Widows Master Trust
Dianne Day, Trustee Director, ITS
Henry Tapper, Chair, AgeWage
13:35 – 14:05
Afternoon Keynote: The Lord Mayor
The Lord Mayor discusses a new report by the City of London Corporation – Powerful Pensions: Unlocking DC capital for UK tech growth – and takes questions from the audience.
The Lord Mayor
Nicholas Lyons
14:05 – 14:35
Presentation: LTAFs under the microscope
In this session, we take the temperature of the LTAF market. Who is launching LTAFs? Are schemes also exploring alternatives and if so, what do they look like?
Presenters
Steve Budge
Partner
LCP
Tim Horne
Head of DC
Schroders
14:35 – 15:05
Panel: How to hedge your scheme’s climate exposure
Two alternative scenarios lie ahead of the world. In the first, we do not do enough to mitigate climate change and therefore, the physical risks facing the world materialise. In the second, the world addresses the problem. How can schemes play a role in mitigating transition risk? Are schemes doing enough at the moment? If not, what needs to change? What could schemes explore to help them? For example, Cushon are investing in forestry to help them to hedge their transition risk.
Moderator
Louise Farrand
Chair
DC Strategic Summit
Panellists
Julius Pursaill
Strategic Adviser
Cushon
Nick Spencer
Founder
Gordian Advice
15:05 – 15:25
Coffee Break
15:25 – 15:45
Presentation: The role of real assets in the Climate Transition: How can DC schemes access the green premium?
DC pension schemes are now starting to access illiquid assets through longer-term, higher-value direct investments such as real assets which can both improve risk-adjusted returns as well as play a major role in reducing, avoiding and removing carbon emissions to help deliver a Net Zero world.
With the built environment contributing 40% of the UK’s total carbon footprint, real assets fund manager Luke Layfield will look at how refurbishing inefficient real estate assets to align them with the Climate Transition can also help futureproof DC savers’ portfolios.
Presenter
Luke Layfield
Fund Manager – Real Assets
Aviva Investors
15:45 – 16:05
Interview: Communicating in difficult times
In recent months, the pensions industry has had some difficult messages to convey to savers, as the value of pension pots has fallen, and people have struggled with the cost of living. How do you give people bad news without creating panic?
Interviewer
Louise Farrand
Chair
DC Strategic Summit
Interviewee
Stacy Standen
Pensions and Compensation Manager
SUEZ UK
16:05 – 16:50
Panel: Value for money
At present, value for money in DC has become a race to the bottom on cost, with most employers choosing the cheapest master trust, without considering whether they deliver value for money in service and investments. Will the proposals set out in the DWP consultation solve the problem?
Moderators
Nico Aspinall
Independent Consultant
Darren Philp
Founder and Managing Director
Shula PR and Policy
Panellists
Ian Pittaway
Director
Independent Trustee Services
Andrew Warwick Thompson
Professional Trustee
Capital Cranfield
Janette Weir
Co-founder
Ignition House
16:50 – 17:20
Panel: AI in DC
Is the age of the robot coming for DC investors? When can AI add value for DC savers, and when do people just need to speak to a human? Are other industries and countries doing better than DC pensions when it comes to using AI? What can the UK DC world learn?
Moderator
Louise Farrand
Chair
DC Strategic Summit
Panellists
Ray Conley
Chief Executive Officer
Benetic
Matt Gosden
Founder
Engage Smarter
17:20 – 17:25
Devil’s Advocate Summaries
17:25 – 17:30
Chair’s Closing Remarks
Speaker
Louise Farrand
Chair
DC Strategic Summit
17:30 – 18:30
Drinks Reception
