Ever found yourself walking into a Trustees’ meeting, looking down the agenda and thinking “I’ve got déjà vu”?

Ever found yourself walking into a Trustees’ meeting, looking down the agenda and thinking “I’ve got déjà vu”? The Regulator thinks you might. 

Let me guess – Notice of meeting.  Quorum.  Conflicts of interest.  Minutes.  Action log.  Investment.  Actuarial.  Admin.  And if we’ve got time, at the end, Governance.  Just squeezed in before any other business and the date of the next meeting.

The Pensions Regulator has published a video Raising standards of trusteeship and governance entitled “Raising Standards of Trusteeship and Governance”. 

Its really worth a watch.

In it, Regulatory Theme lead for Trusteeship and Governance Emelda Nicholroy speaks to Elizabeth Renshaw-Ames – who was appointed by the Regulator as special adviser for Trusteeship and Governance.  This set against a backdrop of a pensions market which over the period to 2030 is anticipated to go through material change – most notably focused on consolidation, and the Regulator consulting on trusteeship and governance standards.

Mrs Renshaw-Ames has written a vision paper on Trusteeship and Governance, a vision which sees:

• Highly skilled trustees
• Delivering effective scheme governance
• To achieve good member outcomes.

To test that vision, TPR started by running focus groups which studied the current position.  And the findings of those groups are for me where things get really interesting.

TPR finds that as a generalisation there is a scalable mechanist approach to trustee business – hence the sort of agenda you might see above.  This leads to a “templated approach to scheme governance” and a “box ticking mindset”.

They characterise a need to move from an approach characterised by “retrospective monitoring and introspective technical papers to a strategic mindset.  With Trustees asking “what’s the point?” before proceeding with any action.

A move from “Churning the Handle, Turn up, keep the show on the road” to Trustees being the drivers, setting the goals and outcomes, planning the route and monitoring the outcome.  “Trustees acting as leaders”.

Change costs money – again, TPR pulls no punches.  It argues that the issues facing schemes today are materially different to those of a decade ago.  Many schemes are in surplus.  “A budget set in 2010 and rolled forward is not relevant to today’s circumstances”.  And this change WILL deliver value.

The governance sands therefore appear to be shifting.  As with most things in pensions it won’t be an overnight.  But there is clear recognition from TPR that change is needed.  Which can only be a good thing.
The questions now are – what model is your Trustee Board running? Are its actions aligned to its strategic objectives?  And does it have the skills, experience and knowledge to effect any necessary change? 

That change isn’t going to be easy.  There will need to be a focus on skills rather than technical knowledge.  Skills that will include the ability to read the room.  To mentor.  To negotiate.  To prioritise.  To plan.  To strategise.

We are dealing with people’s lifesavings.  They deserve much more than a churning of the handle.