Bulletin Board


opdu's Annual Meeting & 10th Anniversary

Merrill Lynch hosted opdu's Annual Meeting and reception last week which celebrated opdu's 10th Anniversary. In keeping with the occasion, the event was held in the splendid King Edward Hall adjacent to St. Paul's Cathedral.

The opdu Annual Meeting is always very well attended and this year's attendance of approximately 170 people was no exception. The three keynote addresses were given by Lawrence Churchill - Chairman of the Pension Protection Fund, David Laverick - Pensions Ombudsman and Malcolm McLean OBE - Chief Executive of The Pension Advisory Service. The theme was looking back and forwards 10 years in pensions and the speakers all highlighted the need for restoring public trust in pension provision. Lawrence Churchill said that the first two years of the PPF had been a qualified success and had confounded critics who believed it would become insolvent within days of its launch. He stated that collecting better data on risk distribution would be necessary for the smooth running of the new risk-based levy on pension schemes. The Ombudsman made several controversial comments and suggested that a new system could be found to replace the current governance models. He added that trustees should be made more accountable for their decisions rather than being able to rely on exoneration clauses which excluded their liability to members. However, the Ombudsman gave acknowledgment to opdu for negating the need for reliance on such clauses with the introduction of its insurance policy. Malcolm McLean gave a very entertaining speech which made mention of the continuing need for good standards of pension administration - an initiative supported by opdu in 2001.

Jonathan Bull, executive director of opdu, had given a welcoming introduction and announced that opdu would be issuing its new simplified policy wording in the near future. He also highlighted the recently launched opdu Pension Support Bond which assists with minimising exposure to over-funding. The Annual Meeting was the last for Alan Herbert , the Chairman of opdu's elected Advisory Council, who was standing down after 10 years and Bull paid tribute to the Chairman's standing in the pensions community, his knowledge and enthusiasm which had played a major part in the success of opdu.

Alan Herbert gave a report on the progress made by opdu in 2006 and also highlighted its achievements during the last ten years. opdu insures 350 schemes that hold approximately £115 billion fund assets in trust.

The text of Alan Herbert's speech is available here and photograhps taken at the event can be viewed at the photographers website.