Helping members run their schemes, December 2023 update

As you will know all too well, there are no ‘quiet times’ in the year any more. In the ‘good old days’ I am sure this was the point in December when things used to start winding down, but not any longer. We certainly have plenty going on here at the PLSA and I expect it’s the same in your organisation, too.

One of the reasons is the relentless churn of policy and personnel in government. Last month’s reshuffles and Autumn Statement are keeping the PLSA Policy team very busy as they build links with new Ministers and Shadow Ministers and respond to the ‘Pot for life’ proposal and other initiatives flowing from what was effectively a mini-Budget.

You can read Nigel Peaple’s initial comments on the Autumn Statement here. We also circulated a special edition of our PolicyWatch bulletin with more analysis; do let me know if you did not receive it. We will, of course, be engaging with the detailed consultations now in the field and I thought our recent set of illiquid investment case studies was a strong start; this kind of material is great for informing Whitehall about how pension funds work in practice.

Our Policy Board met this week to finalise priorities for our 2024 Policy work programme. As you would expect, pensions adequacy and the next steps for auto-enrolment will feature prominently. The team will also be working on:

• Pensions & Growth (value for money, LGPS consolidation and more)
• Better DC (adequacy, DC decumulation, consolidation and small pots)
• Future of DB (Options for DB, surplus return, DB superfunds) 
• LGPS next steps (relations between pension funds and asset pools; other aspects of Today’s Challenges consultation) 
• Responsible Investment (PLSA voting guidelines, ESG)
• Engagement (pensions dashboards, advice / guidance etc)
• Governance & Admin (trustee skills and advice to trustees)

By the time you receive this, I will have discussed these plans with Policy colleagues in our latest Policy Insights Webinar on the ‘Regulatory Horizon for 2024’. Don’t worry if you missed it, you can watch it on catch-up.

My best wishes to you and your family for a peaceful and restful Christmas.