OPDU Report 26 October 2009

Bulletin Board
News from The Pensions Archive
Alan Herbert, Chairman, The Pensions Archive Trust

A National Schools Award has been launched by The Pensions Archive Trust in conjunction with City of London: London Metropolitan Archives and sponsored by Capita Hartshead to raise awareness about the importance of saving for retirement. One of the Trust’s objectives is to advance the education of the public in the knowledge of all aspects of occupational and personal pensions. It is felt that by creating interest amongst young people in schools a greater understanding of pensions will be developed amongst the public over time.

Known as 2020 Vision this new award is aimed at AS & A Level students. The competition invites 16-18 year olds to present new and exciting ideas about how people can save and invest their money to enjoy a better life when they retire. The scenario this year envisages that they work for a financial services company and the year is 2020. Their team has the task of promoting a new retirement savings product in the UK. They are meeting representatives of the advertising agency which has won the contract to run the campaign and their task is to show the most important investment and social challenges they foresee facing the UK in the year 2020; demonstrate how the product will successfully address some of these challenges and provide a brief for the agency indicating the target audience they have identified and why it was chosen. Entries have to be in by 19 February 2010 and the prize giving takes place in London in April 2010 with a guided visit round some of the City of London institutions. It is hoped the Award will become an annual event in the calendar of schools.

If you have connections with schools do promote the Award and encourage schools to enter.  Further information and the entry pack can be found on the Pensions Archive website. For younger children aged 14-16 years a board game based on savings and investments entitled “Future Shock” has been developed and trialled at two south London Schools. It received favourable comments from both teachers and pupils.

An extensive collection of archived material has been received from Lloyds of London Superannuation Fund which is currently being catalogued. Further material has been received from the NAPF which has been added to its existing collection in the Pensions Archive. It is now planned to establish collections by industry sectors, such as the shipping lines which were amongst some of the early employers in the first part of the last century to introduce pension schemes as well as local authorities.

The significant contribution which the Local Government Pension Scheme has made to pension provision in the UK warrants recognition with a collection. Contact has been made with the London Pension Fund Authority which already uses the London Metropolitan Archives for archiving its records.

In March Stephen Pegg was appointed to the board of the Trust and Jane Newell accepted an invitation to become a Vice-President. In July a talk on Archiving the History of Pensions was given by Alan Herbert to The Pension Trustees Circle.

If readers or their organisations have papers related to the development of occupational and personal pensions which they are willing to donate or loan to the Pensions Archive do please make contact.