Press Releases

The latest LGPS National Knowledge Assessment (NKA) 2022 undertaken by Hymans Robertson, has shown high levels of engagement and good levels of knowledge amongst participating funds. The leading pensions and financial services consultancy‘s national assessment helps funds benchmark the knowledge and understanding of their Pension Committee and Board members. Encouragingly, nearly three-quarters (73%) of eligible participants completed the assessment (compared with 61% in 2020).

Commenting on his strategic outlook for 2023, William Marshall, Chief Investment Officer, Hymans Robertson Investment Services (HRIS), says:

“2022 was a hard year, but the night is always darkest before the dawn and there are definitely things to look forward to in 2023. As strategic investors, we see time as our friend, with our fundamental belief being that decisions based on long-term strategic fundamentals gives investors greater predictability of their future returns. With that in mind, it’s probably a mistake to become over reliant on short-term tactical decisions, where success or failure is often driven by unpredictable macroeconomic events. As a result, unlike many, we tend not to be ones for making bold predictions at this time of the year for what the next 12 months (i.e. the relative short-term) might mean for markets...

Commenting on TPR’s consultation on its draft code of practice, Laura McLaren, Head of Scheme Actuary Services at Hymans Robertson, says: 

“Despite today’s consultation being several years in the making, there are few real surprises. The dual “Fast Track” and “Bespoke” compliance routes have been well-trailed and TPR’s thinking has not shifted fundamentally. Nonetheless, getting the details pinned down in 204 pages of consultation material is an important step forward. As a regulatory tool, Fast Track needs to be sensible and proportionate, but it doesn’t need to be perfect. Through that lens, it’s difficult to find much to pick fault with. Other than setting one Fast Track for the whole range of sponsor covenants, the framework is close to TPR principles put forward almost two years ago. Given the consultation timings, it’s hard to see TPR shifting much from this draft, so it’s good that what’s been put forward looks suitably pragmatic...

Following COP 15’s Finance and Biodiversity day, André Ranchin, Investment Consultant at Hymans Robertson, comments on how the finance sector can help achieve biodiversity goals:

“Following yesterday’s Finance and Biodiversity Day at COP15, it is even clearer that some of the key shortcomings of previous biodiversity frameworks were financial in nature, including a failure to align financial flows with activities that safeguard, rather than directly harm biodiversity. While regulations like the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), go a long way to giving investors and financial institutions a useful way to not only report on but, also understand and act on their nature-related risks and opportunities, there needs to be more joined-up thinking that cannot be brought about by regulation alone...

Commenting on today’s 0.5% interest rate rise from the Bank of England, Chris Arcari, Head of Capital Markets, Hymans Robertson says:

“Since the last Monetary Policy Committee Meeting in early November, pressure on the Bank of England to maintain market confidence has abated somewhat and, while further rate rises are priced, the extent of further rises expected has fallen dramatically compared to those seen in the wake of the now infamous “mini” budget...

Commenting on her hopes for 2023 for DB Pensions Schemes, Susan McIlvogue, Head of DB Pensions, Hymans Robertson says:

“2022 proved to be another eventful year for the pensions world. Whilst interest rate expectations have eased back, inflation is rising and against this backdrop it certainly feels like a new era for DB pension schemes. For Trustees, attention should be turning to reviewing collateral waterfalls, investment strategies and funding plans. With many schemes in a position where their actual asset allocation bears limited resemblance to their strategic benchmark, testing and rebalancing (or indeed resetting), strategy will be important...

Bulk annuity transactions can be impacted by challenges brought from company accounting without careful planning warns Hymans Robertson. With buy-in an increasingly common outcome for DB pension schemes, and growth looking set to continue in 2023, the importance of minimising repercussions through early planning and company engagement is vital.

The results of polling at a recent webinar held by the leading pensions and financial services consultancy, found that nearly two-thirds of trustees (61.3%) believed that the accounting impact can negatively impact buy-in transactions with the potential for unexpected financial impacts.

DB Pension scheme members could benefit from a 5% uplift in their pension benefit if the corporate sponsor defers buy-out by 5 years, according to analysis by Hymans Robertson in its annual FTSE 350 DB Pension Scheme survey. This increase in benefit would be a valuable boost to scheme members in a higher inflationary world.

The leading pensions and financial services consultancy looked at the impact of FTSE 350 DB schemes deferring buy-out by 5 years and found that it could generate an aggregate surplus of £100bn. Passing two thirds of this back to sponsors would give the FTSE 350 a cash boost of £70bn, which is 20% of its annual earnings. This would allow schemes to use the remaining third to increase member benefits by about 5%.

Hymans Robertson has launched a new free interactive guide to help corporates prevent their DB Schemes unintentionally ‘sleep walking’ in to a ‘de facto’ buy-out by increasing their understanding of the endgame landscape and options open to them.

New research from HSBC Tomorrow Master Trust shows workplace pension scheme members are losing around £1.7 billion a year during their transition into and in retirement, due to savers choosing costly pathways to access their money.

While some of this loss comes from scheme members withdrawing more than the 25% tax-free lump sum, exposing them to hefty tax penalties, many are potentially buying products that are not the optimal solution for their circumstances.

The research was commissioned for a report Converting pension pots into retirement incomes: Are current roads delivering member value? by HSBC Tomorrow Master Trust and undertaken by Professor Andrew Clare of Bayes Business School, in association with Hymans Robertson.

A UK pension scheme (“the Scheme”) sponsored by a Fortune 500 company has completed a £1bn longevity swap where PartnerRe acted as reinsurer. Zurich as insurer, acted as the intermediary to the swap. The transaction covering pensioner and non-pensioner members insures the majority of the risk that members live longer than expected and is a key milestone towards the trustees' plan to secure all benefits. This is among the first in an emerging trend of longevity swap transactions that has included non-pensioners.

Hymans Robertson were lead transaction adviser for the Scheme and Scheme Actuary with legal advice provided by Gowling WLG. Slaughter and May acted as legal advisers for Zurich.

Commentary on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's Autumn Statement 2022.