Morning Sessions
08:15 – 09:00
Registration & Networking Breakfast
09:00 – 09:05
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Speaker
Louise Farrand
Chair
DC Strategic Summit
09:05 – 09:25
Keynote Speaker: Laura Trott (TBC)
Laura is the pensions minister and will talk about the innovations she would like to see in UK DC.
09:25 – 10:05
Panel: Bonds and increasingly sophisticated asset allocation
Speaker to be confirmed: Premier Miton Investors
10:05 – 10:25
Presentation: The future of Private Markets – looking a decade ahead
10:25 – 11:00
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
11:00 – 11:30
Coffee Break
11:30 – 11:50
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?
Presenter
Steve Budge
Partner
LCP
11:50 – 12:10
Presentation: What do consumers actually want from the pensions dashboard?
Richard Smith unveils new research on what consumers want from the pensions dashboard and gives the audience an update on the dashboard’s progress. What should schemes be doing to prepare? How could the dashboard evolve over the longer term?
Presenter
Richard Smith
Independent Dashboards Expert
12:10 – 12:50
Panel: What exciting things are people doing in their default funds?
12:50 – 13:40
Lunch
Afternoon Sessions
13:40 – 14:20
Panel: Innovating to avoid another 2022
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?
Speaker to be confirmed: MV Credit and Natixis Investment Managers
14:20 – 14:40
Presentation: ESG terminology and what it means to you
14:40 – 15:00
Interview: 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.
15:00 – 15:30
Workshop: Bringing retail learnings into workplace pensions
The retail and institutional DC worlds are converging for the first time – and there’s a lot UK DC schemes can learn from the retail world about engagement and helping DC savers to make decisions. Retail experts join us to host table discussions about what we can all learn from our experience as retail investors and bring to the table to help workplace DC savers.
15:30 – 15:50
Coffee Break
15:50 – 16:10
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?
Interviewee
Stacy Standen
Pensions and Compensation Manager
SUEZ UK
16:10 – 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?
Panellist
Janette Weir
Co-founder
Ignition House
16:50 – 17:10
Presentation: 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?
17:10 – 17:20
Devil’s Advocate Summaries
17:20 – 17:25
Chair’s Closing Remarks
Speaker
Louise Farrand
Chair
DC Strategic Summit
17:25 – 19:00
Drinks Reception
