‘When it comes to investments, focus on the long-term objectives’ – The message from Quantum Advisory’s latest webinar

LEADING independent pensions and employee benefit consultants Quantum Advisory has shone a light on the effect the pandemic has had on the investment markets at its latest insight webinar with experts explaining what trustees, members and employers have learnt over the last 20 months.

Senior Investment Consultant for Quantum, Jayna Bhullar, spoke to attendees about the importance of liquidity, diversification and focussing on long-term objectives. Jayna said:

“Investment markets have been extremely volatile since the initial major losses in March 2020, but we are going in the right direction, building back better, and there are a lot of lessons we have learnt along the way.

“The key to any investment, is patience. Last March, global equity markets suffered their biggest losses since the 2007/8 financial crisis and of course it was unnerving for many, however it is crucial to understand the impact of withdrawing assets at a ‘bad’ time. Diversification if also key to investing and ensuring all your eggs aren’t in one basket, so to speak.

“On a positive note, the pandemic has brought with it new investment opportunities that can help to add value and allow companies to integrate ESG into schemes.”

Quantum’s Senior Consultant and Actuary, Chris Mason, gave an overview of the goings-on in the pension world over the last six to 12 months, in particular the Pension Schemes Act 2021 which will provide The Pensions Regulator with more power, and the Single Code of Practice which looks set to come in at the end of this year and will bring together existing codes, making the system much clearer.

Chris also discussed the 2021 Annual Funding Statement, which looks positive, and the long-awaited Pensions Dashboard which is expected to launch with very large master trusts by April 2023, and gradually include smaller schemes.

Guest speaker Dana Day, Head of Business Development at 20-20 Trustees, shared tips on what it takes to run highly effective business meetings and provided her thoughts on how meetings will be run in the post covid-19 pandemic era.