Wednesday 26th November
11:15 – 12:00
Coffee and Registration in the Sandringham Suite
12:00 – 12:10
Welcome & Opening Remarks
12:10 – 12:20
Presentation: A word from our editor
Pensions Expert editor, Nick Reeve, looks back at some of the key themes dominating the pension headlines in 2025.
Speaker
Nick Reeve
Editor
Pensions Expert
12:20 – 13:00
Keynote
Speaker
To be announced
13:00 – 14:00
Lunch in the Sandringham Suite
14:00 – 14:20
Presentation: Macro market update
In this session, our speaker will share insights on the economic, political and monetary landscape and explore the implications for markets and opportunities for investors as we head into 2026.
Presenter
Ritu Vohora
Investment Specialist, Capital Markets
T. Rowe Price
14:20 – 15:00
Panel: Navigating a minefield – delivering for members in an era of geopolitical and economic chaos
Our opening panel will look at the economic, political and regulatory context and unpack what this all means for the pensions sector and savers. How will geopolitical events affect the investment environment that schemes operate in? Will the domestic political agenda help or hinder schemes in delivering better outcomes for members? And how will the ever-changing face of regulation impact on how scheme’s deliver for members. Join our panelists to discuss all this and more!
Panellists
Melanie Duffield
Chief Strategy and Stakeholder Officer
USS
Guy Opperman
Former Pensions Minister
15:00 – 15:20
Presentation: Property
Presenter
Speaker to be confirmed
Savills Investment Management
15:20 – 15:40
Coffee in the Sandringham Suite
15:40 – 16:20
Panel: Investing in private markets – panacea or red herring?
Private markets are the talk of the town, but it’s talk that splits opinion. Some see private markets as the silver bullet for delivering better risk-adjusted returns. Others are more sceptical and see investments riddled with risk, fees, and opacity. This panel will cut through the noise and ask the real questions. Who actually benefits from the private markets push: members, or managers? Are trustees and schemes equipped to oversee these assets in scale and detail? Does access to private markets represent real innovation or is it just marketing spin? And is the regulatory system ready for the shift away from public markets?
16:20 – 16:40
Presentation: Fixed income
Presenter
Speaker to be confirmed
MFS Investment Management
16:40 – 17:20
Keynote: Delivering a modern regulatory system that drives better outcomes for savers
In this keynote session, the CEO of The Pensions Regulator outlines their evolving approach to regulating the UK pensions sector, moving towards a new prudential approach.
Speaker
Nausicaa Delfas
CEO
The Pensions Regulator
17:20 – 17:30
Devil’s Advocate Summaries
17:30 – 17:35
Closing Remarks
19:00 – 21:00
Dinner in the Windsor and Eton
Thursday 27th November
08:15 – 09:00
Coffee and Registration in the Sandringham Suite
09:00 – 09:05
Opening Remarks
09:05 – 09:45
Panel: Investing for a better Britain
09:45 – 10:05
Panel: TBC
10:05 – 10:25
Presentation: Investing in digital infrastructure
Presenter
Seb Dooley
Senior Fund Manager
Principal Asset Management
10:25 – 10:45
Presentation: Is sustainable led investing truly dead?
The last few months have been challenging for sustainable led investing amid political pushback, sifting capital flows and mixed performance. At the same time, we are witnessing system-level long term structural transformations in energy, industry, consumption, health and nature related sectors. In this session, we debate this area and provide examples from sustainable led equities portfolio that are benefiting from this rejuvenated phase for sustainable investing.
Presenters
Nicholette Macdonald-Brown
Head of Sustainable Equities
Lombard Odier Investment Managers
Peter Burke-Smith
Portfolio Manager
Lombard Odier Investment Managers
10:45 – 11:05
Fire side chat: Alternative real estate investments – the opportunity in net lease
With over $23 trillion in property, plant, and equipment owned by IG-rated companies across the US, Canada, and Europe, the addressable market for net lease transactions is vast. Amid uncertainty on tariffs, inflation, and earnings, net lease real estate is well set to offer predictable income and strong risk-adjusted returns. In this session we discuss how net lease real estate shares characteristics of both a real estate equity and alternative fixed income strategy, protecting against downside without capping upside potential.
Speaker
James Rotchford
Principal
Blue Owl Capital
11:05 – 11:30
Coffee in the Sandringham Suite
11:30 – 11:50
Presentation: TBA
11:50 – 12:10
Presentation: TBA
12:10 – 12:50
Panel: The future of defined benefit pensions
12:50 – 13:00
Devil’s Advocate Summaries
13:00 – 14:00
Lunch in Hillfield
14:00 – 14:20
Keynote: Dashboards – the clock is ticking – we’re nearly there!
Dashboards will soon hit the street and this session will make sure that you are in the know. Hear the latest update from the pensions dashboard programme as the majority of providers have now connected and we are getting ever closer to dashboards becoming a core part of the UK pensions ecosystem.
Speaker
Chris Curry
Principal
Pensions Dashboard Programme
14:20 – 15:00
Panel: How pension dashboards will change the face of member communication
With the launch of pensions dashboards getting ever closer this panel will look at what this means for how members will interact with their pensions. Are the public aware? Do they want dashboards? How will they use them? And what does this all mean for how pensions integrates with open banking and the rise of money management apps? This panel will look at pensions communications 2.0 in a world of open finance and pensions dashboards.
Panellists
Chris Curry
Principal
Pensions Dashboard Programme
Richard Smith
Independent Dashboard Consultant
15:00 – 15:20
Presentation
15:20 – 15:40
Presentation: How UK pensions is leading the way for AI adoption at Ford
In August 2024 Ford launched PensionsChat, an industry first AI tool to help answer any UK employee pensions question. Hear how the launch of PensionsChat exceed expectations in both the quantity and quality of AI conversations plus hear what can be learnt for similar AI projects and how PensionsChat is now leading the way for the development of other AI tools for Ford globally.
Panellists
Oli Payne
Reward Director, International Pensions and Data Analytics
Ford
15:40 – 16:10
Coffee in the Sandringham Suite
16:10 – 16:40
Roundtable
16:40 – 17:10
Keynote
17:10 – 17:20
Devil’s Advocate Summaries
17:20 – 17:30
Closing Remarks
17:15 – 18:30
Drinks Reception and Canapés
19:00 – 21:00
Dinner in Parkview with After Dinner Speaker
