Pension Schemes Bill Amendments Help Facilitate Long Term Investments and Better Pension Provision

House of Lords in Grand Committee may on 14th January consider two Amendments brought by Baroness Altmann which link actuarial work firmly into trustee processes:

The consequence of the Amendments would be to ensure that high quality data is presented to trustees ahead of making decisions on the future of the scheme.  The options to run-on with higher UK productive asset allocations and to ensure there is value to share between stakeholders will be central to their analysis.

There have long been concerns that actuarial work receives insufficient scrutiny.  These Amendments mean all parties will look again at how they are ensuring options are carefully assessed.
The Amendments ensure the public policy intentions of successive Governments are met:

• The Chancellor and DWP Secretary of State wrote to CEOs of TPR and PRA in December 2023 following the Autumn Statement:

“Encouraging alternatives to DB de-risking and buyout, where schemes are well-funded with strong employer covenant – making their assets work harder and enabling continued investment in a broad range of assets, through clearer funding standards in Regulations, a Code of practice and guidance, and making it easier to share investment returns between sponsors and scheme members.”
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• Government Consultation Response: Options for Defined Benefit Schemes: Updated 29 May 2025

“7. The changes to surplus sharing will give trustees of DB pension schemes access to their surplus to benefit both employers and members. Employers could use this funding to invest in their business, increase productivity, boost wages or utilise it for enhanced contributions in their Defined Contribution (DC) schemes. Schemes could also use funding to unlock increased benefits for scheme members, including through providing discretionary benefit increases. The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has acknowledged in its most recent funding statement that schemes are facing increased calls for such increases.”