April update - helping our members run their schemes
07 April 2022, Blog
The terrible situation in Ukraine is top of the agenda for us all at the moment and my PLSA Policy colleagues have been briefing Ministers and Government officials on how pension schemes are responding. It’s no surprise that we got a very strong set of replies to our member survey on Russia-related investment and this has given us some very clear and authoritative material to use in those conversations. Thank you for your help with this. We will, of course, be sharing the survey results with members.
Our Policy team have also been busy submitting a comprehensive response to the DWP consultation on draft Pensions Dashboards Regulations. The PLSA strongly supports Dashboards, but we stressed the importance of extensive user testing - before the ‘go live’ point - on issues such as coverage, data matching accuracy and user understanding. The existing staging timeline is not realistic for all pension schemes.
The Dashboards webinar that I chaired for PLSA members a few days ago delved into these issues and also featured the first ever viewing of a real, ‘live’ dashboard. If you want to be one of the first to see a Dashboard in action, you can watch the recording of the webinar!
Look out also for some additions to our ever-popular Made Simple Guides. We have around half a dozen planned for the next few months, including editions on cyber-risk, TPR’s new Single Code and ‘natural capital’ - investment in farmland and timberland. Do let me know if there is another topic you would like us to cover.
Perhaps the most exciting thing at the PLSA at the moment is the prospect of returning to in-person conferences, starting with our Investment Conference (Edinburgh, 25-26 May). I’ve seen quite a few PLSA Conferences now, but even I am impressed by the line-up my colleagues have put together for this one: Adam Boulton (ex-Sky News), Dame Kate Barker (USS and Coal Pensions Chair), John Chilman (Railpen), Adam Kay (This is Going to Hurt), Dame DeAnne Julius (ex-MPC member) and Mark Fawcett (NEST) – to name just a few. Something for everyone there! Do register if you haven’t already done so and remember our Conferences are free for your trustees and colleagues too. I hope to see you in Edinburgh.