22 April 2005
At the CIMA Anthony Howitt Lecture 2005, a debate panel of leading pensions experts highlighted that if a pensions crisis is to be avoided, it's critical that people are encouraged to start saving.
The debate identified a number of issues including:
- The challenge of meeting future retirement needs is that individuals need to start saving more, with a shared responsibility amongst companies, the financial services industry and the Government to create the appropriate framework and incentives to achieve this.
- Companies at Board level need to better understand the risks that are contained within individual pension schemes. These would include the impact of volatility of returns from stocks and bonds and changes in inflation and longevity assumptions.
- Communication with employees regarding how corporate pension plans are an integral part of their total compensation is increasingly important and well structured schemes can be a critical element of building a well motivated workforce.
The debate was held at Prism Restaurant in the City of London with over 100 leading finance figures participating and was led by a panel comprising of:
- Steven Habermann, Deputy Dean of Cass Business School, Debate Chair
- Douglas Flint, Group Finance Director, HSBC Holdings plc
- Andrew Higginson, Finance Director, Tesco plc, and
- Mike Fosberry, Head of Pensions and Financial Planning, Smith & Williamson.
Charles Tilley, CIMA's Chief Executive, commenting on the debate, said, 'These days fewer people actually seek advice on how to save for the future, in fact, people are more worried about losing money than actually creating wealth. If we are going to encourage people to save, the responsibility falls to everybody to communicate that need, using incentives and a clear structure that are easy to understand.'
For further information please contact:
Peter Stanhope, Senior Press Officer, CIMA
020 8849 2347
peter.stanhope@cimaglobal.com
Notes to editors
1. CIMA is the only UK body whose sole focus is on the training and qualifying of accountants in business. It represents financial managers and accountants who work in business. Its key activities are related to Business Strategy, Information Strategy and Finance Strategy. CIMA's focus is to qualify students, support members and employers, and protect the public interest. CIMA represents the voice of over 85,000 students and 65,000 members in 156 countries. CIMA's focus on management functions makes it unique, and it is internationally recognised as offering the financial qualification for business. CIMA works with leading employers in the UK and around the world to train and qualify financial managers. We pride ourselves on the commercial relevance of our syllabus, which is continually enhanced to reflect the latest developments in business. CIMA's members and students work across all business sectors at all levels throughout the world, demonstrating the flexibility of the qualification.
2. Douglas Flint is Group Finance Director of HSBC Holdings plc. Douglas joined HSBC as Group Finance Director ' Designate in September 1995 and was appointed to the Board in December 1995. He is also a Director of HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhard and a non-executive Director of BP plc. He is Chairman of the Financial Reporting Council's review of the Turnbull Guidance on Internal Control. Prior to joining HSBC, he was a partner at KPMG.
3. Mike Fosberry is a director and Head of Pensions and Financial Planning at Smith & Williamson. He has been involved in advising on pensions and related financial planning issues for over 20 years. Mike is a member of the Securities Institute and of the Society of Financial Advisers where he holds the Advanced Financial Planning Certificate (AFPC). He is also an approved Pensioneer Trustee by the Pension Scheme Office of the Inland Revenue.
4. Steven Haberman is Deputy Dean and Professor of Actuarial Science in the Cass Business School, City University. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries, Royal Statistical Society, Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, an Associate of the Society of Actuaries and an invited member of the New York Academy of Sciences. He has co-authored 4 books including "Pensions: The Problems of Today and Tomorrow" and the new edition of "Modern Actuarial Theory and Practice". He is a founding Editor of the new Journal of Pension Economics and Finance.
5. Andrew Higginson was appointed to the Board of Tesco plc in 1997. He is a member of the 100 Group of Finance Directors and a member of the Financial Reporting Review Panel. He joined the Board from the Burton Group where he had been Group Finance Director since 1994.
22 April 2005050422