Always a Pensions Angle

The Pensions Commission's interim report has landed - all 190 pages of it - confirming what the industry already feared: 15 million people are under-saving. Tom and Nick dig into what happens before the full report arrives in "early 2027" (definition pending). Plus the shrinking-but-still-enormous gender pensions gap, conflict-zone and local investment, and the regulator's new line on AI - including whether your pension chatbot can be trusted or is just confidently making things up.

In this episode of the LGPS Interviews, we sit down with Louise Jack, chief operating and financial officer at LPPI, to discuss how the pool has tripled its client base and doubled its assets under management following the Fit for the Future consultation. Louise shares insights on recruitment and integrating Brunel staff, opening the new Bristol office, building trust with partner funds, and the governance, operational resilience and cyber security considerations that come with scaling up.

In a new episode of our LGPS Interviews Special, Nick and Thomas sit down with Border to Coast Chief Investment Officer Joe McDonnell. Joe shares his perspective on navigating geopolitical turbulence, the realities of welcoming seven new partner funds into the pool, and how Border to Coast is approaching local investment, asset transition, and the question of scale

Recorded live (well, live-ish) at the Pooling Symposium, Nick and Tom are joined by two LGPS heavyweights – Roger Phillips and Clair Alcock of the Scheme Advisory Board – to unpack what the newly-minted Pension Schemes Act actually means for the LGPS.

The Pension Schemes Bill is now the Pension Schemes Act. Nick and Tom walk through the final week of parliamentary ping pong and the last-minute concessions that got mandation over the line - the sunset clause, the savers' interest test, and the new report on barriers to UK investment. They also dig into the parts of the Act overshadowed by the mandation row: DB superfunds, value for money, surplus release rules and small pots consolidation. Plus a preview of this week's first-ever live podcast with Roger Phillips and Clair Alcock of the Scheme Advisory Board.

Tom and Nick return from the Easter break to find the Pension Schemes Bill's Commons debate a bit of a damp squib, with the government sweeping aside Lords amendments and the Conservatives pledging repeal if they win the next election. Plus, Railpen and LAPFF line up against BP's chair ahead of the 23 April AGM.

The LGPS pooling deadline has passed - so what happens now? Tom and Nick dig into the practical reality of asset transitions, the government's firm stance on salary sacrifice, and whether concessions on mandation might be quietly in the works. Plus, a look at what Australian superannuation can (and can't) teach the UK.

Welcome to the final episode of a special, five-part series Always a Pensions Angle is running in partnership with The Fiftyfaces Podcast. In this series, we will hear from five leading figures from across the LGPS ahead of March 31st.In this episode, The Fiftyfaces Podcast host Aoifinn Devitt sits down with the Avon Pension Fund's Head of Pensions Nick Dixon.

Yes, that's right, another special episode of the podcast - oh you lucky things. This time out you join the team as they negotiate their way around the Houses of Parliament on the day that the Lords voted to remove the mandation clause from the Pension Schemes Bill. One of the most vocal voices against mandation in the halls of Westminster has been the shadow pensions minister Helen Whately, and she sat down with Nick and Tom ahead of the Lords vote to discuss her opposition to mandation. We also discuss government overreach and the triple lock. Plus, Nick and Tom take you into the Strangers Gallery of the House of Lords to witness the vote unfold in real time - and find out what happens next as the bill heads back to the Commons.