Press Releases

Hymans Robertson, the leading pensions and financial services consultancy, is warning that DB pension scheme trustees are increasingly taking ESG considerations into account as they face buy-in decisions. They are being given this additional focus due to increasing environmental expectation of members. With buy-in becoming a more likely outcome for DB pension schemes, and growth in this area looking set to continue, the importance of ESG has never been greater for risk transfer.

Commenting as The Pensions Regulator (TPR) publishes new pensions dashboards guidance and launches its dashboards ‘Deadline’ campaign today, Paul Waters, Head of Digital Wealth, Hymans Robertson, says:

“Pensions dashboards have been a long time coming. Many in the industry have been working hard to design and agree the rules and processes needed to make dashboards a reality. So, it is a welcome to have a milestone of ‘12 months to go’ until the first schemes make their data available for members to access through dashboards...

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

“The persistently high levels of inflation will continue to have both a shorter and longer term impact of 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. At the recent MPC meeting the vote was 6-3 in favour of a 0.25% rise with the minority voting for the 0.5% increase, evidencing the steps that may have to be taken to manage the higher inflation levels we are experiencing. The resulting rises in longer term gilt yields which we have seen over the course of 2022 will continue to have a significant impact on pensions schemes...

The buyout cost for UK Defined Benefit (DB) Pension Schemes could be reduced by c£100bn by offering a clear range of options to DB members according to analysis by Hymans Robertson. This saving equates to broadly a three-year reduction in timescales for reaching buyout, providing huge value for DB schemes and their members, claims the leading pensions and financial services consultancy. It warns that many DB schemes are taking longer to reach their final point, unnecessarily, by not considering the role that member options can have.

Hymans Robertson, has boosted its established Responsible Investment (RI) team with several new members. The new appointments have been made to meet increasing client demand for support in developing and implementing RI strategies.

Hymans Robertson confirms that total pension scheme buy-in and buy-out volumes totalled £27.7bn in 2021 as it publishes it Half Year Risk Transfer Report.

Commenting on the impact on DB Pension Schemes from the increased Bank of England’s base rate announced today, Ross Fleming, Co-Head of DB Investment, Hymans Robertson, says:

“For defined benefit (DB) pension schemes the impact of any short term interest rate is unlikely to change funding ratios. However, the rise in gilt yields which are happening, will have an impact on Scheme funding. For those DB schemes that are not fully hedged against interest rate movements, this further rises in gilt yields could provide more welcome tailwinds for funding and present an opportunity to reduce risk and lock in funding gains. This increase could also have an impact on Schemes’ collateral positions, backing any interest rate protection currently in place..."

Hymans Robertson, a leading financial services consultancy, has appointed Richard Stock as Head of Property & Casualty within its Insurance & Financial Services (IFS) practice. The appointment is part of the consultancy’s move to continue to grow and broaden its support for P&C clients.

The De La Rue Pension Scheme (the “Scheme”), sponsored by De La Rue plc has completed its first pensioner buy-in of £320m with Scottish Widows, covering the liabilities for approximately 1,400 pensioner members.

The buy-in represents a significant step in the Scheme’s de-risking journey, helping the Trustee improve the security of members’ benefits and to reduce the risk to the sponsoring company, De La Rue plc.

Hymans Robertson was the lead transaction adviser, with legal advice to the Trustee provided by CMS. De La Rue plc was advised by PwC and Slaughter and May, with Scottish Widows being advised by Pinsent Masons.

Commenting on today’s DWP Consultation ‘Helping Savers Understand their Pension Choice’, Paul Waters, Head of Digital Wealth says:

“It is timely to see the DWP ‘Helping Savers Understand their Pension Choice’ consultation launch at a time when many are facing increasingly challenging decisions in regard to their savings. The consultation presents a significant opportunity for improvements that can deliver better outcomes for the millions of pension savers for whom financial advice may be inaccessible or impractical. We note the consultation reference that trust based pensions may need different interventions to those set out by the FCA for contract based schemes. As far as possible, a single uniform regime for communications and engagement with DC members will help understanding and decision making more than differing rules across the two types of scheme...

Commenting on the Funding Code announcement in TPR’s Corporate Plan published today, Laura McLaren, Partner, Hymans Robertson, says:

"TPR’s announcement today that it will launch its second consultation on the Funding code in the Autumn and clarity that changes won’t apply to valuations before 30 September 2023 is helpful. Despite this, however, pension schemes which are due valuations before then will have the challenge of navigating some ongoing regulatory uncertainty. This may run the risk of stifling decisive action from trustees and sponsors in the meantime but we’d hope that most schemes already looking ahead to the changes...

End game planning for DB schemes should be an key priority for 2022/23 valuations, claims Hymans Robertson, the leading independent pensions and financial services consultancy. It says that while the development of end game strategies should be at the forefront of post-pandemic planning, polling from its recent webinar indicates that this is only a key priority for about half (55%) of Trustees for 2022/23 valuations. Reflecting on recent improvements in scheme funding levels, almost 60% of Trustees expected to be approaching triennial funding valuations fully funded on their technical provisions basis.