We've certainly been keeping busy here at CIS - have you seen us out and about over the past few months?
We've spent a lot of time engaging with our market to understand the most pressing challenges and priorities for pension schemes and Master Trusts as we head into 2024 and beyond. We continue to expand our fund range and enhance our platform proposition to ensure we can meet the evolving needs of our trustee clients and their members.
Read on to find out more about the latest developments across the CIS business and in our market.
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New Fund Launches
We've added a number of new funds to our platform this quarter, supporting our clients to invest in a more diversified portfolio while meeting sustainable investment goals. These include:
- Nordea Diversified Return Fund
The Nordea 1 - GBP Diversified Return Fund is an attractive investment solution for investors looking to preserve capital and grow their portfolio in a stable way over the full investment cycle. Over its nearly two decades of history, the portfolio management team has successfully been able to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns, with a special focus on minimizing risk instead of maximizing returns.
- ATLAS Global Infrastructure Fund
The ATLAS Global Infrastructure (UCITS) ICAV Fund is managed by one of the leading listed infrastructure specialist teams with a focus on sustainability. ATLAS has one of the sector's largest investment teams with a wealth of experience and a proven high conviction investment process that has generated strong inflation linked investment returns over time. For more information please visit the website.
- Ruffer Diversified Return Fund
The Ruffer Diversified Return Fund focusses on capital preservation which has resulted in delivering a positive return to clients during all major bear markets since the firm's inception. The strategy has found a home in DC pension scheme's for two principal reasons: a diversified source of returns and offering downside protection.
You can download our latest fund list here.
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Awards
Huge congratulations to Head of CIS Jess Williams, who was named Team Leader of the Year at the Women in Pensions Awards in November.
Jess is an inspiring leader, both in her role as Head of Corporate Investment Services and across Phoenix Group's wider Open business, where she led a Group-wide project to deliver new TCFD reporting requirements. We're delighted that her achievements have been recognised at industry level.
Looking ahead to the 2024 awards season, we're delighted to announce that we're finalists in two categories at next year's Pensions Age Awards! We've been shortlisted for Pensions Provider of the Year and the Pensions Communications Award. We'll share further details in the New Year and look forward to the awards ceremony on 21 February.
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PMI Academy Partnership
In November we hosted our second training session for the Pensions Management Institute on Targeting Better Member Outcomes. We were joined by guest speakers Michelle Inskip, Managing Director - Defined Contribution, and Ross Langley, Head of Delivery and Operational Strategic Partnerships, from global asset management firm AllianceBernstein.
In this webinar we discussed the use of Target Date Funds (TDFs) in DC Investment Strategies and looked at some of the TDF solutions that fund managers and platform providers are implementing to address current and future investment challenges and deliver improved outcomes for scheme members. You can access the recording here.
Earlier this month we also published a case study on the same topic, which is now available to download on the PMI website.
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CIS Events
In November we held our second thought leadership event of the year: The Value for Member Challenge.
We were joined by Paul Watson, one of Australia's leading pensions experts, who shared some valuable insights into the Australian pensions model, including 'stapling' of funds, allocation to unlisted assets, and using Net Benefit Outcome as the number one KPI when considering value for members. These were highly topical for the UK market in light of the recent Mansion House Compact and the Chancellor's Autumn Statement.
In case you missed it, you can access the event recording here.
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Industry Events
Over the past few months we have contributed to a number of roundtables, webinars and panel discussions to offer a platform perspective on some of the current challenges and considerations for occupational pension schemes. Some of the events where Phoenix CIS have been contributors include:
- PMI & Invesco Roundtable: Alternative investments for Defined Contribution pension schemes
- The Virtual Panel - DC Innovation Unleashed webinar series: Setting the stage for innovation (link to accompanying e-magazine article here)
- Natixis IM Roundtable: The important role and equitable application of performance fees in the future of UK DC
- Professional Pensions webinar in partnership with Schroders: LTAFs - Taking a look six months on
We have also attended a number of other key events to collaborate with and learn from industry peers, and to gain a deeper understanding of our market. These include:
- The Mansion House Pensions Summit
- The PMI Northern Conference
- The PLSA Annual Conference
- BNY - Life Beyond Work: The Changing Face of Retirement research launch event
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LinkedIn Poll - Private Market Investment
We recently conducted a poll to help us understand what was perceived to be the main issue delaying investment into private markets within DC.
Interestingly, 'operational challenges' came out on top with 39% of the vote, followed by 'lack of understanding' on 35%.
Responding to the poll, Nick Groom, Head of UK DC Sales and Strategy at Natixis Investment Managers said:
"Interesting set of results. Operational challenges are perceived, but surmountable. A lack of understanding is the main reason that value for money scored as much as 22%. These asset classes are misunderstood but provide the opportunity to greatly improve member outcomes."
Reflecting of the results of the poll, Head of CIS Jess Williams added:
"There is growing interest in private market investment among the trustees and advisors we work with, indicating that understanding of these asset classes is steadily increasing. While operational challenges have historically been seen as a barrier to investment, platforms like ours can implement solutions that address many of the issues associated with investing in less liquid assets. In the near future, I think we'll see increased allocations to private markets as understanding of these solutions grows."
Look our for our next poll, which we'll be publishing soon on LinkedIn!
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Looking Ahead
2024 is set to be a busy year for CIS, with the rollout of our new ESG report and platform enhancements that enable us to offer an income drawdown facility for schemes and Master Trusts looking to provide at- and post-retirement options for their members.
We're also excited about our latest industry partnership with the DC Investment Forum (DCIF), and look forward to supporting their research pipeline in 2024. Follow us on LinkedIn for updates.
We'd like to take this opportunity to thank all of our clients - as well as the consultants and fund manager partners we work with - for your continued support throughout 2023. We look forward to working with you all again in 2024, and wish you and your families a wonderful festive season!