Pensions Management Institute

Jonathan Stapleton speaks to eight senior professional trustees about accreditation, diversity and the issues they face in their roles.

Voluntary accreditation of professional trustees will act as a quality mark and drive up scheme governance standards, argues Lesley Carline.

The industry has rejected the need for multiple professional trustee accreditation regimes after the Pensions Management Institute and Association of Professional Pension Trustees launched rival frameworks.

Trustees and their advisers could be “criminalised for doing the right thing” and left “fearful of acting” if Pension Schemes Bill wording is not amended, the Joint Industry Forum (JIF) says.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) says it will press ahead with a 10% increase to the general levy from 1 April, despite a severe industry backlash to a consultation on the issue.

The launch of two accreditation regimes for professional trustees into the industry at the same time is both unnecessary and confusing, says Dalriada Trustees.

This week’s top stories included The Pensions Regulator’s announcement of new measures around the appointment of professional trustees, and the £3bn Merchant Navy Officers Pension Fund completing a £1.6bn buy-in with Pension Insurance Corporation.

The Association of Professional Pension Trustees (APPT) will open to applications for its professional trustee accreditation framework from the start of the 2020/21 financial year.

More than half (55%) of the pensions industry is dissatisfied with the direction of pensions policy going into 2020, according to research from the Pensions Management Institute (PMI).

Schemes are increasingly looking at longevity hedging as part of their de-risking process, according to a survey by Insight Investment.