TUC Member Trustee Network conference - report and presentations
TUC Member Trustee Network annual conference - 5th June
This year's Network conference was attended by over 100 pension fund trustees, and over 150 people in total.
Following introductory remarks from the conference chair Jeannie Drake, the first speech at the conference came from the TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber who talked about the positive proposals for pensions reform in the recent White Paper, before talking about the TUC's support for member trustees through the Network.
The keynote speaker in the morning was James Purnell MP, Minister of State for Pensions Reform. The minister also discussed the pensions White Paper, highlighting some of the major recommendations, and some of the areas where further consultation is being undertaken.
For the rest of the morning the conference split into workshops:
In workshop 1 Geoff Cruickshank and Patricia Martin from the Pensions Regulator talked about pension scheme funding. Download Powerpoint Presentation (1.3MB)
In workshop 2 Hilary Salt from First Actuarial presented on modifications to pension schemes. Download Powerpoint Presentation (1.5MB)
In workshop 3 Stephen Nichols from the Pensions Trust discussed defined contribution and career average schemes. Download Powerpoint Presentation (4.49MB)
In workshop 4 Terry Crossley from the Department for Communities and Local Government provided an update on the Local Government Pension Scheme. Download Powerpoint Presentation
Following lunch there was a short announcement from the chair about the shareholder campaign at First Group which is seeking to improve labour standards within the company. Following this the main sessions in the conference hall started.
Tony Deeley, Fiona Draper and Pete Davis who are the TUC's nominees on the Department of Work and Pensions' trustee panel discussed the work of the panel. After this they took suggestions from trustees in the audience about issues to raise within the panel. Download Powerpoint Presentation
Next, Paul Watchman from legal firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer spoke about the work he has recently undertaken for the UN Environment Programme looking at trustees' fiduciary duty. This is with particular reference to implementing socially responsible investment strategies. Download Powerpoint Presentation
Following a coffee break came the afternoon's keynote address from Adair Turner, chair of the Pensions Commission. Lord Turner talked through the work of the Pensions Commission and why it had decided on some of its key recommendations, such as compulsion on employers.
Following this presentation the conference split into workshops:
In workshop 1 Michael Wilson from SocGen, and Julian Korek from Kinetic Partners hedge funds. Download Powerpoint Presentation
In workshop 2 Peter Chapman from SHARE presented on the opportunities for unions to use shareholder engagement as a form of leverage. Download Powerpoint Presentation
In workshop 3 John Belgrove from the Hewitt Bacon & Woodrow discussed liability driven investing.
Download Powerpoint Presentation
In workshop 4 Brian Bailey talked about the work of the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum. Download Powerpoint Presentation
Once back in the main hall a short film interviewing investment experts about the role of trustees was shown. Following this Jeannie Drake drew the conference to a close with a few concluding remarks, before trustees headed to the post-conference reception for a well-earned drink.
Thank you to all those trustees who attended this year's conference, and we look forward to seeing you again next year!
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