From thought leadership to technical pieces, knowledge hub keeps our members and pensions professionals up to date with the recent developments in the industry.
The PMI’s DC Master Trust Group was established to help overcome barriers to offering a good service to members. As part of bringing the group together, the decision was made to include not just Master Trust providers but representatives to the supply chain. The delivery of good services requires many different components to work together in harmony. Without bringing together the component parts, we would not be able to work towards overcoming the barriers.
Covenant-led de-risking: why covenant must be at the heart of all de-risking plans
To say defined benefit (DB) schemes have been on a journey over the last decade is an understatement. Most private sector schemes have closed and become a legacy liability, while falls in market-expected returns have caused many deficits to spiral.
Technology will need to keep up with rapid changes in the pensions world
One would be forgiven for not being up-to-date with all the pension changes that have occurred recently, or even over the last decade. State pension age has risen and is continuing to rise; people can now access pension savings freely from age 55 (rising to age 57 from 2028), with only their marginal tax rate to pay; automatic enrolment has brought over 10 million people into workplace pension saving; the Government is applying increasing pressure on schemes to take into account climate change in their investment decisions, and Defined Contribution (DC) schemes have overtaken Defined Benefit (DB) schemes as the main provider of workplace pensions (at least in the sense of active members, though not yet assets under management).
Administration – such a simple word. Trustees could be forgiven for thinking overseeing administration is the easy part of governance. But times have changed. Whether you’re a trustee of a Defined Benefit (DB) or Defined Contribution (DC) scheme – technology underpins how benefits are delivered to your members. Innovations in technology mean that many members can now interact with their schemes online. Even with DB schemes, enriched functionality is allowing people to transact and engage online with their schemes. Administration platforms are now largely cloud-based which helped enormously during lockdown when remote working was forced on the nation. Similarly, biometric identity verification (IDV) means people don’t have to post precious certificates in order to receive their benefits; they can prove conclusively who they are simply by using a mobile device.
It is one of the verities of the Covid-19 pandemic that it has accelerated existing trends – in technology, home-working, internet shopping and so on. We have all had to learn new skills, or hone existing ones, to master Zoom meetings etc.
Pensions is more than just investments, at least for me!
My first stint with the pensions industry started in the year 1997, when music from Elton John, the Spice Girls and the Backstreet Boys were topping the charts!
Technology will need to keep up with rapid changes in the pensions world
One would be forgiven for not being up-to-date with all the pension changes that have occurred recently, or even over the last decade. State pension age has risen and is continuing to rise; people can now access pension savings freely from age 55 (rising to age 57 from 2028), with only their marginal tax rate to pay; automatic enrolment has brought over 10 million people into workplace pension saving; the Government is applying increasing pressure on schemes to take into account climate change in their investment decisions, and Defined Contribution (DC) schemes have overtaken Defined Benefit (DB) schemes as the main provider of workplace pensions (at least in the sense of active members, though not yet assets under management).
Administration – such a simple word. Trustees could be forgiven for thinking overseeing administration is the easy part of governance. But times have changed. Whether you’re a trustee of a Defined Benefit (DB) or Defined Contribution (DC) scheme – technology underpins how benefits are delivered to your members. Innovations in technology mean that many members can now interact with their schemes online. Even with DB schemes, enriched functionality is allowing people to transact and engage online with their schemes. Administration platforms are now largely cloud-based which helped enormously during lockdown when remote working was forced on the nation. Similarly, biometric identity verification (IDV) means people don’t have to post precious certificates in order to receive their benefits; they can prove conclusively who they are simply by using a mobile device.
It is one of the verities of the Covid-19 pandemic that it has accelerated existing trends – in technology, home-working, internet shopping and so on. We have all had to learn new skills, or hone existing ones, to master Zoom meetings etc.
Pensions is more than just investments, at least for me!
My first stint with the pensions industry started in the year 1997, when music from Elton John, the Spice Girls and the Backstreet Boys were topping the charts!
The PMI’s DC Master Trust Group was established to help overcome barriers to offering a good service to members. As part of bringing the group together, the decision was made to include not just Master Trust providers but representatives to the supply chain. The delivery of good services requires many different components to work together in harmony. Without bringing together the component parts, we would not be able to work towards overcoming the barriers.
Covenant-led de-risking: why covenant must be at the heart of all de-risking plans
To say defined benefit (DB) schemes have been on a journey over the last decade is an understatement. Most private sector schemes have closed and become a legacy liability, while falls in market-expected returns have caused many deficits to spiral.
