Press Releases

Commenting on today’s ONS Consumer Price Index Inflation, David Walker, Chief Investment Officer, Hymans Robertson says:

“The update from the ONS today follows on from the Bank of England announcement earlier this month and reiterates that this is a period of rapid change for pension funds and their investments. One of the most significant impacts has been how inflation levels have fed through to interest rate rises and expectations around future rate rises, with some significant shifts in bond yields in recent weeks. The rise in longer term gilt yields, which we have seen over the course of 2022, will continue to have a significant impact on pensions schemes, leading to a worrying time for pensioners. Against a backdrop of inflation, and a soaring cost of living crisis looming, an improvement in funding could become less positive as rates continue to rise. We would urge Trustees to review the resilience of their strategies to these interest rate and inflation moves and in particular consider how inflation may feed through to day to day net cashflow requirements..."

DB Trustees and Scheme Managers must begin to take action now to ensure the eventual move to pensions dashboards is as straightforward as possible, warns Hymans Robertson, as it launches a new guide to help them navigate their way through this new landscape. The new guide from the leading pensions and financial services consultancy, Pension Dashboards are Coming, outlines the simple actions Trustees can take to prepare for the dashboard, and the steps required to manage the transition.

Commenting on the consultation ‘Public Sector Exit Payments: a new controls process for high exit payments’, Ian Colvin, Head of LGPS Benefit Consulting, Hymans Robertson says:

“Today’s newly announced consultation takes a slightly different approach from previous government intentions to cap exit payment at £95,000. Rather than apply an absolute cap to exit payments, the proposal seeks to beef up the approval process and to give the relevant department secretary of state the final say on whether a £95,000 plus payment can be made. The expectation is that approval will only be granted in exceptional circumstances..."

Commenting on today’s interest rate rise from the Bank of England, Ben Farmer, Senior Investment Consultant, Hymans Robertson says:

“The prevailing high inflation environment continues to impact institutional investors and their portfolios. Despite more recent falls, long-term bond yields have risen significantly this year as the major global central banks remain steadfastly committed to raising interest rates to combat heightened – and persistent – inflation..."

Commenting on the 2022 Scheme Funding Analysis published by the Pensions Regulator, Laura McLaren, Partner, Hymans Robertson says:

“Today’s analysis covers the latest tranche of valuation submissions received by the Pensions Regulator in the period to 31 December 2021. Spanning valuation dates between September 2019 to September 2020, this includes the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic..."

Keeping up-to-date with technology is the biggest challenge facing DB Pension Scheme Sole Trustees, according to Hymans Robertson’s annual report on the evolution of sole trusteeship. Almost two thirds (62%) of sole trustee respondents said ensuring they have the technology in place to support the continuous scheme management style that suits sole trustees’ governance approach was the biggest challenge for the next few years.

Commenting on the DWP consultation, Draft Occupational Pension Schemes (Funding and Investment Strategy and Amendment) Regulations 2023, Laura McLaren, Partner, Hymans Robertson says:

"Today’s long-awaited consultation launched by the DWP into regulations underpinning the new defined benefit funding code is an important step forward. After numerous delays, notably it is expected to pave the way for the Pensions Regulator to launch its second consultation into the Code of Practice later this year. That keeps plans on track – at least for now – for the Code to launch in late 2023...

Hymans Robertson LLP, the leading independent pensions and financial services consultancy has promoted - Michael Abramson and Emma McWilliam - to the role of equity member. This highlights Hymans Robertson’s ongoing growth following its centenary anniversary in 2021. As the firm continues to evolve, both promotions support the commitment to, and demonstrate the sustainability of, the firm’s successful Partnership structure.

Commenting on the DWP Consultation outcome, ‘Facilitating investment in illiquid assets by defined contribution pension schemes’, Callum Stewart, Head of DC Investment says:

“We are supportive of the DWP’s actions to facilitate investment in less liquid assets by DC schemes, although we don’t think excluding performance fees from the charge cap will be the silver bullet. But, we do agree that this is a strong signal to the industry that these should not prevent investment. We would encourage the DWP to continue to review which costs and charges should be included in disclosure requirements and how these interact with other disclosure obligations e.g. those required by the Investment Association...

Buy-in and buy-out market volumes were expected to be between £10bn and £12bn in the first half of 2022, according to Hymans Robertson’s latest survey of the insurance companies who offer pension scheme buy-ins. During the same six-month period, Hymans Robertson led the advice on £2.5bn of pension scheme risk transfer transactions.

The same insurers questioned by the leading pensions and financial services consultancy expected that buy-in and buy-out volumes would be close to £25bn in the second half of 2022. That would take the total for the whole of 2022 to be around £35bn, which would be more than a 25% increase on the 2021 volumes of £27.7bn.

Hymans Robertson is calling for Pension Schemes to be bolder when working with asset managers on their stewardship and responsible investment (RI) activities. The leading pensions and financial services firm makes the call as it launches its new guide for trustees: Effective Stewardship: Getting the most from your asset managers. The guide outlines the role of effective stewardship in helping to manage the climate change and ESG risks, to deliver returns with real-world impact.

Commenting on today’s announcement of the DWP Further Consultation on the draft Pensions Dashboards Regulations 2022, Karl Lidgley, client manager for third-party administration, Hymans Robertson, says:

“It is good to see the second consultation from the DWP look to confirm, and provide certainty, to administrative providers of the timescales the dashboard will bring. However, while greater certainty is most welcome we believe that the 90 day goal does not provide enough scope in the current climate to match resource requirement to meet anticipated demands...