2026 marks the first full year in which DB schemes operate under TPR’s reformed regulatory framework. This keynote sets out how the combined impact of the DB Funding Code, the General Code and updated supervisory guidance shapes the way trustees plan, document and govern their endgame strategies.

It will explore TPR’s perspective on upcoming legislative changes within the Pension Schemes Bill and discuss their influence on endgame decision for the year ahead.

This session will address:

• The DB Funding Code of Practice and what TPR expects to see in journey plans, long-term funding targets and investment alignment
• How the General Code of Practice, such as ESOG and ORA requirements, applies to schemes reaching endgame – looking at governance duties, internal controls and effective oversight
• Annual Funding Statement guidance – what schemes must evidence around funding, covenant and risk when presenting endgame options

With many DB schemes now in stronger funding positions, surplus has emerged as a major consideration in endgame planning, prompting the core question of whether it should be applied for members or shared with the employer. This session examines the practical and legal constraints that shape how surplus can be used. Looking at the emerging legislation designed to make extraction easier, and the decisions trustees must make when balancing member outcomes with employer interests.

This session will address:

• Why stronger funding levels have created surplus for many schemes
• Upcoming legislation enabling surplus extraction and introducing statutory overrides
• The debate around whether surplus should go to members or the employer
• Factors trustees must consider, such as tax traps, technical constraints, how pension increases create new liabilities and the restrictions on cash payments due to HMRC rules and member eligibility
• Required safeguards or approvals before surplus can be released or shared
  

Run-on is increasingly being used as a purposeful endgame strategy. This session will look at how schemes can successfully structure a run-on approach that manages investment and covenant risks, sets fair surplus-sharing expectations and defines the timeframe, triggers and exit conditions in advance. Delegates will gain detailed understanding of how to implement a structured, well-governed run-on arrangement.

This session will address:

• Purposeful run-on and when it is strategically appropriate
• Investment, funding and covenant risks that present themselves during run-on
• Protecting your scheme from risks through funding protections, covenant protections and pre-agreed methods for sharing surplus
• Setting run-on duration, risk appetite, triggers and exit conditions
• The successful implementation of a well-structured, well-governed run-on

As schemes progress toward buy-in, buy-out or purposeful run-on, trustees face a series of technical negotiations that shape how liabilities are defined, how risks are allocated and how member outcomes are protected. This session focuses on the legal and contractual touchpoints trustees can meaningfully influence during the endgame process and equips them with practical negotiation approaches to secure the strongest possible outcome for members.

This session will address:

• The contractual levers trustees can exercise: clarifying the benefit specification, addressing legacy discretions and resolving areas of ambiguity before approaching the market
• How to challenge constructively when negotiating data warranties, residual-risk coverage, liability caps and conditions precedent to completion
• Common pitfalls of unclear benefit terms, incomplete documentation and unresolved discretions that lead to weaker outcomes and how to avoid them
• Practical approaches to aligning trustees and sponsors on surplus mechanisms, covenant safeguards, investment transition plans and the overall legal framework governing the transaction
  

• Why bulk annuity demand is at record levels and the operational constraints limiting insurer capacity
• How insurers prioritise schemes in practice and which schemes are most affected by bottlenecks
• Practical steps schemes can take to avoid being deprioritised or delayed
• How the insurance market is expected to evolve over the 12-24 months

Employer covenant remains a central factor shaping endgame strategy. With funding levels improving and the regulatory framework evolving, trustees now face a nuanced challenge: determining how far covenant strength should guide decision-making. Should a strong sponsor give schemes the confidence to take additional time, manage risk dynamically or consider run-on options? Or is sound judgment best served by securing liabilities sooner, recognising that covenant strength can change unexpectedly?

This session explores how trustees can strike the right balance between confidence and caution, examining the role of covenant in timing, investment risk, long-term planning and the overall trajectory toward buy-out.

This session will address:

• How covenant strength should inform endgame risk appetite and strategic decision-making, including investment risk, run-on feasibility and the pace of de-risking
• When strong sponsor support provides genuine opportunity, and when caution remains appropriate
• How trustees can evaluate the durability of covenant strength, recognise inflection points and understand how covenant shifts influence endgame timing
• The trade-offs between continued reliance on employer backing and the security and finality offered by transferring liabilities to an insurer
• How governance culture, trustee decision-making frameworks and adviser input influence covenant-dependent choices in the final stages of the journey to buy-out
  

As schemes approach endgame, investment portfolios must support flexibility without locking trustees into a single path. This session discusses how to build an investment approach that enables schemes to move towards buy-out, run-on or consolidation, including the role of cashflow-driven investment (CDI) in proving stability and predictable income.

We will assess how illiquid assets affect optionality and when they may need to be sold, looking at examples of schemes still holding illiquids to understand the effects on their endgame choices. While also assessing the new tools and secondary-market solutions that have emerged to help schemes sell their illiquid assets and reshape portfolios.

This session will address:

• How to build an investment portfolio that supports flexibility across buy-out, run-on and consolidation
• The role of cashflow-driven investment (CDI) in creating stability, predictability and endgame readiness.
• When schemes should consider selling or reducing exposure to illiquid assets
• Which types of schemes are still holding significant illiquid assets as they approach endgame
• Recent innovations and secondary-market developments for selling or restructuring illiquid assets
  

While price matters, it is rarely the only factor driving insurer selection. This session looks beyond pricing to focus on the qualitative differences that shape long-term member outcomes. From the distinctions in service models, benefit interpretation, transition quality and long-term member support that materially shape outcomes.

We will explore what value insurers can provide members that trustees cannot and how reframing the relationship between trustees and insurers to a collaborative partnership can transform the endgame process.

This session will address:

• Key considerations for selecting an insurer based on value, capability and scheme needs
• How insurers differ in their service models, administration approaches and transition processes
• Variations in how insurers interpret benefits and manage complex or legacy entitlements
• What insurers can offer members that trustees cannot
• Reframing insurers as partners, not counterparties, to improve collaboration and member results

Data quality is now a key determinant of pricing, timing and insurer engagement. This session will give trustees a clear picture of what good, clean data now looks like and how to effectively obtain it. We will examine the impact of incomplete or inaccurate data on insurer quotes and explore the practical limits of what insurers will accept before declining or repricing a case.

This session will address:

• How to cleanse and prioritise data effectively to improve transaction outcomes
• How poor or incomplete data affects insurer pricing and interest
• GMP equalisation issues that continue to influence readiness and quotes
• Key data dependencies: benefit accuracy, member status and missing records
• How clean is clean enough? The insurer tolerance on how patchy data can be before it becomes a barrier

• The current range of consolidation options: capital-backed superfunds, DB master trusts, and “bridge-to-buyout” models
• Scheme characteristics consolidators prefer — funding, size, maturity and covenant
• How consolidators can support smaller schemes and relieve pressure created by insurer capacity constraints
• How consolidator financial models, capital buffers and governance frameworks work in practice

Schemes may share the same ultimate destination in buy-out, but the journey to get there can unfold in strikingly different ways depending on the size and structure of the scheme.

• How governance, project structure and decision-making differed across small, medium and large schemes during the buy-out process
• The sequencing and timing of key milestones, from data cleansing and benefit specification to insurer engagement and asset transition
• How adviser roles were allocated, coordinated and adapted based on scheme scale
• The specific challenges each scheme faced (e.g., data gaps, illiquid assets, insurer access, capacity constraints) and how they resolved them
• The lessons learned across all three buy-outs including approaches they would repeat and what they would change with hindsight