Pension Scheme Governance and Regulation

Dates: 28 October - 1 November 2024

Course Outline

The roles of Regulators, Governors and Trustees with a fiduciary responsibility to act in the best interests of pension scheme members have evolved in recent years to become of critical importance to the future of pension provisioning.

As pension scheme assets globally fall further behind the liabilities that they are intended to fund, and yields continue to fall, the requirement for regulatory reform driven from the “bottom up” under advisement from those responsible for schemes “at the coal face” has increased.

In addition to these challenges, the requirement for a more “hands on” approach to the stewardship of scheme assets has become evident against a backdrop of disappointing investments.

This course takes delegates through the roles, risks, issues and processes involved in protecting the rights and members of all beneficiaries; the challenges of pensions’ roles in improving financial inclusion; and the different regulatory models and challenges involved in protecting the interests of pension schemes.

Course Objectives: 

On completion, you will be able to:

• Appreciate the increasingly important societal and economic role of pensions
• Understand fiduciary responsibilities to stakeholders in scheme management
• Analyse the cash flow needs of the scheme vis-à-vis investment opportunities
• Appreciate the role of pension system regulators
• Understand recent initiatives towards more holistic and inclusive systems
• Challenge status quo systems in a reasoned and structured manner

Key Topics

• Pension scheme roles of Regulators, Trustees and other responsible parties
• The pivotal role of pensions in contemporary economies
• Poor performance of pension scheme assets and investment managers
• Building confidence in pension systems and individual schemes
• Challenging advisors and service providers to deliver greater value
• Strategic initiatives, e.g. increased scale, internal investment management
• The wider stewardship role of pension schemes in the future

This is week 2 of Investment of Pension Fund Assets and Pension Scheme Governance and Regulation Toolkit.