A constructive meeting
The annual meeting between HPPA and the HP Pension Scheme Trustees took place during September with HPPA members Suzanne Ingman, Brian Lawrence, Fraser Bridgeford, David McIlroy and David Carson meeting with Pension Scheme Trustees Paul Early, Martin Smith and Beverley Clements.
It was constructive and informative meeting. The Trustees understood our position and approach. The Trustees’ approach is closely aligned with our priorities – protecting pensions, building surplus and seeking fairness. This has been demonstrated through their recent repeated requests to the company for discretionary increases to be granted.
Strong position
We were re-assured with their basic management of the plan. The investment decisions that they have taken over the last four years since the Truss/Kwarteng disaster have restored the plan to 100% funded.
Looking ahead
We shared our ideas and principles on run-on with surplus (as opposed to buy-out – transferring to an insurance company) and the trustees were in general alignment with our preferred approach for the plan to run on.
The company last approved a discretionary increase when the plan was in surplus. We discussed in detail their investment planning approach a surplus would be generated.
They also recognise that there is a need for a level of fair ‘reparation’ for those pensioners who have received minimal or no increases over the years.
The plan is to “run-on” until at least 2034/2035.
Our role and activities matter
The Trustees have followed our activities with respect to the latest Pension Bill, our YouTube channel, Facebook page, and member meetings.
They are aware of the financial hardship that our members are enduring and are actively working on ways to address this. They will present our case studies to the company when they next meet. They view case studies as an effective method of getting our message across.
We urge members to take time to write up or video your stories, so there is more first-hand evidence to present.
We discussed how we might influence the company on making discretionary increase decisions. We are currently evaluating the outcome of those discussions to determine which we think are appropriate. Currently our focus is on the Pension Schemes Bill.
Improved support ensuring members get good free advice
The trustees are currently rolling out a process to ensure that those who are currently approaching retirement can make informed financial decisions about their future pension.
New pension management
We discussed the move to Trafalgar House from Equiniti with the expectation that Trafalgar will provide a much-improved service. The Trustees carried out a vigorous selection process before appointing Trafalgar House. Trafalgar House are set up to manage a complex pension scheme such as ours, which Equiniti had little interest in pursuing.
Trustee selection
The call for member nominated trustees has generated a high level of interest with nearly 20 candidates coming forward to fill the available positions.
More detail available
We shared a presentation with the Trustees outlining our position and ideas. For those interested you can find it on the website here. This presentation outlines the principles we put forward behind a run-on with surplus sharing strategy. You may find it helpful if you’d like a deeper understanding of what we discussed with the Trustees.
Any further questions please email chair@hppa.org.uk
