Pension investment is sitting increasingly at the centre of the UK’s economic agenda. The Mansion House Accord has instilled a growing focus on pension capital supporting UK businesses, infrastructure and growth, with schemes now operating within a changing policy environment.

This opening keynote will set the scene for the day, examining the investment priorities shaping the market, how the role of pension schemes in supporting UK growth is evolving, and how policy ambition can be balanced with delivering strong outcomes for members.

With many DB schemes now in strong funding positions and deficit repair becoming less central, investment decisions are taking on greater importance. As TPR calls on schemes to focus on their long-term objectives, effective investment governance is moving firmly to the forefront.

This session will examine what effective investment trusteeship looks like in this new landscape, and how DB governance needs to evolve alongside funding and long-term investment strategy.

This session will address:

• Aligning governance with long-term investment objectives
• Trustee skills, capacity and investment expertise
• Effective delegation, challenge and adviser oversight
• Enabling timely, well-governed investment decisions
  

State-led industrial policy, geopolitical risk and changing global trade are reshaping the investment landscape and creating new sources of both risk and return. For pension investors, this raises questions about whether portfolios built for a more stable global environment remain fit for purpose.

This session will examine how schemes can adapt portfolio construction to changing market dynamics, building greater flexibility while identifying where new investment opportunities are emerging.

This session will address:

• Reassessing diversification in a more fragmented world
• Navigating geopolitical and policy-driven market risks
• Identifying opportunities created by shifting capital flows
• Building flexibility and resilience into portfolio strategy
  

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Infrastructure remains a core allocation for pension schemes, valued for long-term income, resilience and predictable cashflows. Within the asset class, investor capital is increasingly concentrating in two areas: energy infrastructure, spanning both traditional generation and renewables, and digital infrastructure, including data centres, cloud infrastructure and AI computing facilities.

This session examines why pension schemes are allocating to these areas, how they align with long-term scheme objectives, and what this signals for infrastructure allocations within pension portfolios going forward.

This session will address:

• Why pension capital is concentrating in energy infrastructure
• What the allocations of energy infrastructure consist of in practice, looking at traditional and renewable energy assets
• What the concentration of pension capital in these areas reveals about the current shape of infrastructure investing
  

As investment decisions become more complex, schemes have a growing range of ways to access expertise and manage implementation.

This panel will bring together advisers, fiduciary managers, OCIO providers and professional trustees to compare how the different models work in practice, where each is most effective, and how the right approach can vary depending on the scheme.

This session will address:

• Which models work best in different scheme scenarios
• When advisory support is enough, and when greater delegation may be needed
• How approaches differ on run on, risk transfer, surplus and investment strategy
• Where professional trustees can add governance capacity and investment expertise
• Comparing cost, control and implementation across the different models
  

This is your chance to mingle, connect, and replenish your energy amidst the Investment Conference's vibrant atmosphere. Join us in savouring a spread prepared to elevate your midday experience. Whether you're networking, sharing insights, or simply taking a moment to unwind; Take a plate, and enjoy!

Run on will not look the same for every DB scheme. For some, it is a deliberate long-term strategy; for others, it is a necessary phase before risk transfer becomes achievable. Portfolio construction through run on will therefore depend on each scheme’s objectives, time horizon, liquidity needs and longer-term destination.

This session will explore how schemes can build an investment strategy for run on that makes effective use of the opportunities available while remaining aligned with their longer-term plans.

This session will address:

• Generating sustainable returns through deliberate run on
• Balancing investment opportunity with risk-transfer readiness
• Applying insurer-style approaches to portfolio construction
• What successful run-on investing looks like in practice
  

Across the pensions industry, schemes are putting capital to work in ways that can deliver both investment value and positive environmental and economic outcomes.

This session will shine a spotlight on schemes putting sustainable investment into practice, exploring what they invested in, how they approached it and the wider environmental and economic outcomes those investments are helping to deliver.

This session will address:

• Sustainable investment case studies
• What pension capital is financing
• Measuring investment and real-world outcomes
• Lessons, challenges and trade-offs along the way
  

With regulatory reform, market consolidation, and growing pressure to align pension investment with UK economic goals, trustees face a fast-evolving landscape. This panel will examine what these shifts mean for investment strategy, governance, and long-term decision-making.

This session will address:

• The key recent changes to the pensions investment landscape and what does the future hold
• Should fiduciary duty cover more than just returns?
• Pension capital’s evolving role in supporting UK economic growth and infrastructure
• What are the major systemic risks for the future of pension scheme investments