The ABC of CDC: A TUC Pensions Conference on 21st January 2015

The ABC of CDC: A TUC Pensions Conference on 21st January 2015

With automatic enrolment bringing more low and middle earners into workplace pensions, attention is turning to how to improve the incomes savers receive in retirement. Traditional defined contribution pensions are inefficient as they leave individuals bearing investment and longevity risk alone. Legislation making its way through Parliament will allow the introduction of collective pensions in the UK. Experts say that by pooling investment and longevity risk, collective defined contribution (CDC) pensions could boost retirement savings by as much as 30 per cent.

While CDC approaches are common in the Netherlands, Denmark and Canada, this is a relatively new concept in UK pensions. This conference explored these issues including the international experience of CDC, the prospects for CDC in the UK and whether CDC pensions match with what workers want for their retirement savings.

Speakers included:
• Rt. Hon. Steve Webb MP, Minister of State for Pensions
• Gregg McClymont MP, Shadow Minister for Pensions
• Mel Duffield, Deputy Director, Pensions Policy Institute
• Chris Driessen, Senior Policy Advisor, FNV
• Morten Nilsson, Chief Executive, Now:Pensions
• Kevin Wesbroom, Principal Consultant, Aon Hewitt
• Sandeep Maudgil, Partner, Slaughter and May
• Hilary Salt, ‎Actuarial Director, First Actuarial
• David Pitt-Watson, Executive Fellow, London Business School
• Nigel Stanley, Head of Campaigns, TUC
• Stephen Bowles, Head of Defined Contribution, Schroders
• Dr Paul Cox, Investment Adviser at NEST and Senior Lecturer, University of Birmingham

Presentations from a number of speakers can be viewed here. For a summary of the event see storify at https://storify.com/TUCeconomics/the-abc-of-cdc-tuc-pensions-conference-21-january