Hosted by the Trustee and delivered by Railpen, this year’s theme was Fit For The Future, with the agenda focusing on the regulatory, legislative and political changes impacting members’ pensions, and how the Scheme and our investment approaches are adapting to ensure we secure members’ financial futures.

Setting the scene 

Compered by Client & Corporate Affairs Director Jonathan Clark, the day was opened by Trustee Chair Christine Kernoghan, who set the scene for the day, and reflecting on the importance of the partnerships between the Trustee, committees, employers and the organisation.

Christine handed over to Railpen CEO Andy Bord who looked back on how the business has navigated a challenging year across the economy with growing cost of living pressures, in key policy areas across both rail and pensions, and closer to home as we continued transforming the Scheme’s administrative functions in a valuation year, to ensure we remain fit for the future.

Market outlook 

Director of Private Markets Craig Heron was joined by Gavekal Group’s Founding Partner & Chief Economist Anatole Kaletsky, to discuss today’s economic environment and the trends impacting the Scheme and its members.

Deep-diving into the policy environment

After a quick break, Head of Client Covenant Paul Burnett took to the stage for his session, ‘The Future Of Rail: Journey To GBR So Far,’ outlining what we know about the rail reform legislation so far, the focus and priorities of the Trustee in this process, and how we’re working to achieve these.

Next, Head of External Relations, Phil Wood, welcomed a panel of our business experts: Head of Investment Stewardship & Co-Head of Sustainable Ownership, Caroline Escott, Director of Total Portfolio Investments, John Greaves, and Pensions Policy Senior Manager, Tim Miller, to discuss how the Trustee and the business are rising to the opportunities and challenges presented by the wider policy environment, and in particular, how we’re working to advocate for members.

Delivering for members

After a morning exploring the economic, policy and regulatory environment impacting how we operate today, the two sessions after lunch outlined how the Trustee and the organisation are working to rise to the opportunities and address the challenges they present.

First, Chief Officer – Member Services, Nic Cromack, Member Experience Director, Donna Adams, and Senior Business Manager, Claudia Ginsburg, shone a light on the voice of our members, taking an honest look at the barriers we face with member engagement and understanding, as well as the topics and concerns that matter most to them about their pensions.

Then, Director of Private Markets & Real Assets Investments, Anna Rule, and Head of UK Productive Assets, Julia Diez, handed the mic to Andre Nel, Chief Financial Officer at CMR Surgical – one of our private market investments. Together, they discussed how we work with groundbreaking companies to generate growth for members, and for the UK.

Looking to the future: Enhancing the human touch with AI  

In the final thought leadership session of the day, Lilia Christofi, Partner at PwC, took to the stage to deliver her keynote session. Her exploration of the opportunities and threats presented by AI, and how pension schemes could be harnessing these to build a better member experience in the future, generated lots of conversation and questions from delegates to close out the day.

Reflections 

Finally, Christine returned to the stage to close the day.

Reflecting on the key messages, she said: “It is easy, at times, to focus on uncertainty. But what today demonstrates is that we are in a strong position.

We understand the landscape we are operating within. We are clear on our priorities. And we are taking a disciplined and considered approach to delivering for our members.”

Any questions?

For more information about this year’s Pension & Investment Conference, please contact the Client Relationship Management team.