Pensions Unpacked

When it comes to pensions, Australia appears light years ahead. Universal, compulsory, preserved to retirement, and big professional funds investing for decades. It's caught the attention of policymakers here in the UK. Chancellor Rachel Reeves is eyeing consolidation and better value, taking cues from Australia as well as Canada and the Netherlands. But you can't copy and paste a pension system. So what can the UK sensibly borrow? What should we believe, and what does it mean for members? In the final episode of Pensions Unpacked series one, Georgie is joined by Gregg McClymont, executive director of Public Affairs at IFM investors, and Denise Le Gal, a Canadian who's worked in the UK pensions and financial services industry for nearly 40 years.

In this episode of Pensions Unpacked, Georgie Frost is joined by Lord Alok Sharma KCMG PC to discuss the achievements of COP 26, the current direction of travel when it comes to global climate action and his hopes for COP 30. As COP 30 in Belem approaches, the politics of climate and finance are shifting at home and abroad. The UK can point to sharp emissions cuts, even as momentum builds to roll back green rules. In the US, the policy direction is even less certain. Against that backdrop, what does transition finance look like in practice, and what is the role for long term pension capital?

Pension administration is seen as the unglamorous side of the industry. Yet it's critical to how schemes run and how members experience their retirement. As expectations rise and risks multiply, the pressure to modernise has never been greater. So how do we move administration from back-office function to genuine driver of value? In this edition of Pensions Unpacked, David Fairs, Chair, PASA, Helen Sparke, administration expert at Procentia, and Brightwell’s David Cheetham, join Georgie Frost to talk about the forces changing UK pension administration.

Once the cornerstone of retirement, most DB schemes are now closed - yet they still hold over £1.4 trillion in assets and remain vital for millions of members and the wider economy. And with new rules on surplus set to take effect from 2027, schemes and sponsors face fresh choices about whether to buy out or keep running on. In this special live edition of Pensions Unpacked, Ian Mills, Head of DB Endgame Strategy at Barnett Waddingham, and Morten Nilsson, CEO at Brightwell, talk to Georgie Frost about the state of the UK’s defined benefit pensions.

The government's recent plans for pension schemes to help support UK economic growth raise important questions about economic strategy, fiduciary duty, and the evolving role of pensions in supporting national interests. Matt Cavanagh, Senior Counsel H/AdvisorsCicero and Amy Mankelow from Brightwell talk to Georgie Frost about whether these plans are genuine win-win, or a case of political overreach.Find out more about Brightwell here.