mallowstreet Trustee Report roundtable coverage and analysis from the PLSA May Investment Conference
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On Thursday 26th May, Dawid Konotey-Ahulu Dawid Konotey-Ahuluhosted a panel discussion at the PLSA investment conference in Edinburgh to discuss the findings of the mallowstreet Trustee Report, which was an initiative in partnership with Janus Henderson.
The panel included:
Anil ShenoyAnil Shenoy,Head of UK institutional at Janus Henderson Investors
Anne SanderAnne Sander, Professional trustee at PTL
Colin StewartColin Stewart,Chair of Citi UK Pension Plans
Paul Rhodes, Trustee director and member-nominated trustee at Reach Pension Plan
Because the Trustee Report covers so many key themes that are relevant to our industry, I wanted to share some of the external coverage from the panel discussion with the mallowstreet community.
We recommend you download the trustee report to gain first hand access to the data discussed by the panel. Click here to download for free.
Trustees overwhelmed by growing pensions complexity – Professional Pensions
79% identify their top challenge as dealing with growing complexities
A panel of industry professional speaking yesterday (26 May) at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association's (PLSA) investment conference in Edinburgh broke down this finding, published in a report today by industry group Mallowstreet.
The firm's Trustee Report 2021 - published in partnership with Janus Henderson Investors, and in association with the PLSA, the Association of Member-Nominated Trustees, the Pensions Management Institute, and the Association of Professional Pension Trustees - said the increased burden on trustees was vastly more noticeable since the same research was undertaken in 2019.
Speaking on today's panel, Mallowstreet co-founder and board director Dawid Konotey-Ahulu said it was evident trustees "don't feel they have the bandwidth" to keep up with regulatory expectations.
Overall trustee satisfaction with workloads and resources has fallen by half since the same research in 2019, Janus Henderson head of UK institutional Anil Shenoy added.
"Regulation is really highlighted with GMP equalisation, endgame planning and ESG integration coming out as the biggest issues."
PLSA IC: Pension experts call for more collaboration between schemes - PENSIONSAge
Industry experts have called for more collaboration between pension schemes amid growing regulatory complexity.
The topic was raised during a panel session at the PLSA Investment Conference 2022 today, 26 May, by Citi UK Pension Plans chair, Colin Stewart, who said there should be “a lot more collaboration between schemes”.
“I think, certainly, the big schemes have a lot of resources and some of that could be shared with smaller schemes in a very interesting way without impacting any confidentiality,” he explained.
The comments followed research presented by Janus Henderson Investors head of UK institutional, Anil Shenoy, who detailed the results of a recent report published by the firm.
The report found that 79 per cent of trustees say their top challenge is dealing with the growing complexity of pensions.
Commenting on the result, Shenoy said: “Probably unsurprisingly for this audience, pension complexity dominates the pensions agenda right now, with environmental, social and governance (ESG), particularly Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) being a key contributor.
“Unfortunately, trustee satisfaction, with their workloads and their resources, has fallen by about half since the last time this survey was conducted in 2019.”
Just 12% of UK schemes view covenant risk as material to their ability to pay pensions – European pensions
Just 12 per cent of UK pension schemes view covenant risk as material to their scheme’s ability to pay pensions, according to research by Janus Henderson.
The research was presented during a panel session at the PLSA Investment Conference 2022 yesterday, 26 May, by Janus Henderson Investors head of UK institutional, Anil Shenoy.
“I’m not sure if this was a sample size issue but certainly the schemes that were tending to weak that were surveyed seemed to put covenant risk lower down on their list of priorities. Those with a strong covenant and those which were in for buyout were very prudent on their covenant,” Shenoy noted.
In terms of monitoring, Shenoy said there are three ways of monitoring the covenant: a qualitative way, a deterministic way and a stochastic way, with larger schemes tending to opt for the latter approach.
On this, Citi UK Pension Plans chair, Colin Stewart, who also spoke on the panel said that relationship is key when it comes to covenant monitoring.
“I think it is building that relationship with the employer. In our organisation we have a little expression with the employer that we want ‘no surprises’ and that is no surprises on both sides. The only way you won’t get any surprises is if you are really engaging with that employer over the good times and the more challenging times.
Trustees warned not to 'push covenant under the rug' – Professional Pensions
Warnings from industry professionals not to underestimate the materiality of covenant risk
Trustees have been warned not to let constant covenant monitoring slip down board agendas unless their scheme is faced with a sudden negative change of situation.
Speaking on a panel today (26 May) at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association's (PLSA) investment conference in Edinburgh, Citi UK Pension Plans chair Colin Stewart recalled his own "bitter experience"...
