Being the best

July/August 2010

Against the backdrop of one of the hardest years on record for pension schemes, with pensions making headline news on a regular basis, Engaged Investor’s Trustee Awards 2010 recognised the very best in the trustee community. The event took place in the fine surroundings of London’s Merchant Taylor’s Hall on 7 July, with 250 guests enjoying the summer sunshine.

As well as talking about the challenges faced by schemes, trustees enjoyed the opportunity to renew acquaintances with friends in the industry over a fine lunch.

The awards were presented by Engaged Investor’s Bob Campion, publisher and editor-in-chief, and Maggie Williams, editor, alongside a host of sponsors from across the pensions industry.

This year, more awards were handed out than ever before, with several new categories added – including prizes for best de-risking strategy and pension secretary of the year – to reflect the changing pensions landscape.

The categories were split into two sections, with nine awards judged by Engaged Investor’s panel of independent experts, and nine more voted for by readers of Engaged Investor.

In total, there were over 1,500 votes cast and more than 100 pensions schemes involved – marking the biggest and best response in the Trustee Awards’ five year history. Find out who won on the following pages and read about how they did it in subsequent editions of Engaged Investor.

AWARDS DECIDED BY JUDGING PANEL

Best Popular Report & Accounts

Winner: Bacardi-Martini UK Pension Scheme

The judges praised the “youthful, lifestyle feel” of the material as well as the evidence of improving take-up.

Highly Commended: Co-operative Group

The judges were impressed by the scheme’s multimedia audio version, its bi-annual presentations and the clean and bright material.

Team Excellence in Administration

Winner: Zurich Financial Services UK

The judges singled out the 24 hour turnaround, the ability to retire online, the excellent quality of data and said it was a “scheme that lays down a challenge to the rest of the industry”.

Highly Commended: Railway Pension Scheme

The judges were impressed with the very high training standard, as well as the level of engagement with clients and members.

Best De-Risking Initiative

Winner: Babcock International Group Pension Schemes

The judges singled out the way each scheme is treated like a business in own right, its interest and inflation risk hedging strategy and the fact the scheme completed the first ever longevity swap deal, which led to the company share price rising 16%.

Highly Commended: The Pension Trust

The judges were impressed with the way the scheme manages equity downside risk using an option collar and its attempts to reduce volatility.

Best Scheme Governance Private Sector

Winner: Veolia UK Pension Plan

The judges praised the highly organised and effective committee structure and said it was “a model of good practice for schemes with limited resources”.

Highly Commended: Railway Pension Scheme

The scheme’s efficient, honed structure designed to suit a very complex organisation and its thorough consideration every possible issue were seen as leading the way in administration.

Best Scheme Governance Public Sector

Winner: BBC

The scheme’s innovative Journey Plan Committee and internal disputes committee were highly praised and it was felt it “defines the principles of good governance”.

Highly Commended: Transport for London

The judges praised the scheme’s robust and well thought through governance structure.

Best Trustee Training Plan

Winner: Railway Pension Scheme

The scheme was felt to have “covered all the bases”, requiring PMI certification of its trustees and combining internal and external training.

Highly Commended: SAUL

The judges highlighted the schemes’ online documentation & comprehensive list of duties

Highly Commended: M&S Retirement Plan

The judges were impressed with its specialist trustee intranet and training plan.

Best Communications Strategy (DB)

Winner: First UK Bus Pension Scheme

The judges were impressed with the demonstrable value for money, the “rare example” of proper member consultation and concrete results achieved by the scheme.

Highly Commended: Co-operative Group

The schemes’ straight forward, clear language was singled out for praise, as well as its high standards, despite its small budget

Best Communications Strategy (DC)

Winner: BUPA

The good research and use of focus groups were highlighted, as well as its very clear material, which was clean, easy to read and used bright, attractive colours.

Highly Commended: M&S Retirement Plan

The scheme was praised for its clear objectives, use of multi-media materials and its good take-up.

Best Investment Strategy

Winner: Royal County of Berkshire Pension Fund

The judges praised the scheme’s intelligent, forward thinking investment solutions, its detailed approach to risk management and its “back-to-basics” approach with a comprehensive asset liability study.

Highly Commended: Jotun Paints (Europe) Ltd Pension Scheme

The scheme was praised for the level of innovation for its small size and its limited equity exposure.

AWARDS DECIDED BY TRUSTEES

Best Trustee Education Provider

Winner: Aberdeen, Pension Intelligence

The programme of live training events with independent presenters from a range of disciplines was felt to be the best in the industry.

Highly Commended: Blackrock, Trustee Masterclass

Trustees were impressed with the multi-format training in print, online and face to face.

Best Client Service by and Investment Manager

Winner: Legal & General Investment Management

Highly Commended: BNY Mellon

Trustees felt that throughout the financial crisis, client service has been a high priority and these companies have demonstrated their commitment to pension schemes.

Most Innovative Pension Consultant

Winner: Towers Watson

Highly Commended: Lane Clark Peacock

Trustees said that in a year of innovation, these two firms have impressed for their ability to think outside the box and devise solutions that really work.

Most Innovative Asset Manager

Winner: Blackrock

Highly Commended: Aviva Investors

Both these firms were praised for having taken on board the lessons of the last few years and devised new solution that manage risk as well as seek growth.

Pension Manager of the Year

Winner: Stephen Field, TFL Pension Fund

Stephen was praised as an impressive individual who is “knowledgeable, diligent and driven in his pursuit of efficiently and effectively running his large DB pension scheme like a well-oiled machine”.

Highly Commended: Andrew Birkett, Babcock International Group Pension Scheme

Trustees singled Andrew out for having masterminded the first UK pension scheme longevity swap transactions, which were innovative, complex and ground-breaking as well as having embedded a pioneering governance and risk-control policy.

Independent Trustee of the Year

Winner: Steve Delo, Pan Governance

Highly Commended: Richard Butcher, Pitmans Trustees Limited

Independent trustees have become ever more important to pension funds in the last few years, and Richard and Steve are among those leading that charge. Their years of experience in pensions are now helping scheme of all shapes and sizes.

Trustee Secretary of the Year

Winner: Susan Adeane, Railway Pension Scheme

Susan’s work was felt to have raised trustee standards across the industry. Her achievements include setting up a peer governance group, instigating trustee effectiveness reviews and continuously developing TKU.

Highly Commended: Jo Whiterod, Brit Insurance

Jo was praised as an outstanding Secretary to the Trustees. In the pensions industry for more than 20 years, her first book, Running Pension Trustee (and other) Meetings, was published in 2008.

Trustee Board of the Year

Winner: British Airways

BA’s trustee board was singled out for its ongoing commitment to its membership in the face of intense public scrutiny and pressure from many interested parties during a merger process.

Highly Commended: MNOPF Trustees Limited

The trustees of the Merchant Navy Officers Pension Fund were felt to be leading the way - it was one of the first to appoint a delegated Chief Investment Officer and recently completed an innovative £500m buy-in.

Trustee of the Year

Winner: Jane Newell, Royal Mail Pension Trustees

Jane was honoured for taking the bold step of writing directly to Peter Mandelson, then Business Secretary, over her concerns for the future of the Royal Mail’s pension scheme and speaking out in public.

Highly Commended: Chris Wagstaff, Aviva Investors Staff Pension Scheme

Trustees said Chris' investment and general pensions knowledge is invaluable to the scheme and the decisions it implements.

THE JUDGES

Nick Boyes, director, Alexander Forbes

Steve Delo, trustee, Pan Governance

Keith Hollender, commercial director, NAPF

Bob Campion, publisher and editor-in-chief, Engaged Investor

Penny Green, chief executive, SAUL Trustee Company

Chris Wagstaff, head of investment education, Aviva Investors

Tony Deeley, trustee, GKN plc Final Salary

Mike Sullivan, president, Pensions Management Institute

Emma Watkins, head of relationship management, MetLife Assurance

WHY THE ENGAGED INVESTOR TRUSTEE AWARDS?

While there are many awards for other aspects of the pensions industry – advisers, consultants and investment managers – trustees are often not recognised for the vital role they play. The Engaged Investor Trustee Awards give trustees a unique chance to take centre stage and be given the recognition they deserve for their hard, often voluntary, work.

Engaged Investor would like to thank all the trustees who entered for the awards decided by the judging panel, and everyone who nominated and voted for the awards decided by our trustee poll. If your scheme narrowly missed out this year, or you want to nominate outstanding individuals or companies, details of how to enter the Trustee Awards 2011 will be published in the November/December 2010 edition of Engaged Investor.