Pensions and investments recognized five innovators from the global pension and retirement community for delivering better results to plan members.
This year the IP The WorldPensionSummit Innovation Awards recognize a truly international group of innovators in four categories: communication and engagement, investment, plan design and technology.
The awards were presented by Nikki Pirrello, WorldPensionSummit Chair and P&I COO; Jennifer Ablan, editor and chief content officer of IP; and Don Ezra of Don Ezra Consulting Services, and former Co-Chair, Global Consulting at Russell Investments.
- Communication and commitment
From England, an interactive video quiz from TPT Retirement Solutions, Leeds that engages participants with the most relevant retirement results won top honors. The master trust quiz presents three hypothetical models based on retirement savings levels.
Runner-up in the category was Colombian pension provider Protección, Medillin, with its “Future Starts Today” initiative, which addressed financial well-being, education and more to address the country’s severe pension deficit, and in return obtained valuable information about its participants.
This year, two innovators shared the best investment prizes.
Austria’s VBV-Pensionskasse in Vienna has established a dedicated investment strategy to support climate action goals for its entire €3 billion ($2.9 billion) public equity portfolio and its 1 billion euro corporate bond portfolio. The judges thought his thorough approach was a great model for other shots to use.
Sharing top honours, TPT Retirement Solutions from England and its focus on private equity and sustainable opportunities. Boosted by auto-registration in the UK and looking to engage younger participants, he made ESG a higher priority and branched out into alternative asset classes, which led to a strategy impact investing in its target date funds.
London’s National Employment Savings Trust, which has also turned to private equity to accommodate its young members and diversification strategy, came second. It now expects £1.5bn to be invested in private equity by the start of 2025 and eventually 5% of its portfolio, all within its existing fee structure.
From Cyprus, Emergo Wealth, Nicosia’s LifeGoals multi-employer provident fund with a focus on goals-based investing impressed the judges, who awarded it the top prize for maintaining the investment of participants, the increased involvement of employers and the general encouragement of retirement savings.
From Canada, finalist Blue Pier, Toronto, is expanding options for small employers with its “Pension Plan as a Service” initiative that gives employers something that works for them now and can also grow with them. Its fully online active investment management approach to defined contributions manages funding and longevity risk while providing participant portability.
Canada’s Common Wealth Plan, Toronto, a retirement savings and planning technology platform, won with an approach that gives employers an easy, portable and cost-effective system to generate significantly more retirement income. A dedicated app simplifies things and allows employees to create an automated retirement plan in 15 minutes. It inspired judges to call it “the future of pensions.”
In Kenya, the Rukisha digital wallet launched by runner-up County Pension Fund has the potential to transform a culture of poor savings into one of saving for retirement and other basic needs like education and healthcare.