IPE is pleased to hold its first roundtable dedicated to promoting future pensions leaders. This session is an opportunity for young industry specialists from pension funds across Europe to exchange ideas on a range of topics including how a younger perspective provides diversity of thought and encourages long-termism, why our industry particularly suits younger people and how some of today’s most pressing challenges, including the climate and biodiversity emergencies are calling out for new thinking. If you are under 40 and work in the pension industry, contact Jakub Janas at jakub.janas@ipe.com about joining this roundtable. 

Please note that this is not a standalone session and you will be required to attend the IPE Conference & Awards on 28-29 November to qualify.

An informal environment where investors can share investment strategy experiences and best practices with peers. Together around 25-30 investors to keep the discussion as productive as possible and the meeting is held under the Chatham House Rule. Please contact Jayna Vishram at jayna.vishram@ipe.com for further details.

IPE Welcome Drinks with a museum gallery tour will be open to all attendees. They will be held at the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK)

After its recent travails, the current ESG model will have a big makeover that will make it more robust and investor-centric. This is the conclusion of the latest annual Amundi-CREATE pension survey to be launched at this session. 

From Russia - Ukraine and China to the Middle East and more, global geopolitics have rarely been as fraught, unstable or consequential.  One of the United States’ most influential national security advisers gives us an overview of current situations and potential outcomes.

While the formation of comprehensive carbon markets may support sustainable development and usher in a net-zero future, questions remain about how to ensure the transition in a just and equitable one for people and communities around the world, particularly in the Global South.

The programme has so far focused on geopolitics, economics and climate. Our panel of investment leaders is responsible for billions in pension investments with the retirements of many millions of people at stake.  How do these experts synthesise competing priorities into coherent investment strategies? 
Olivier Rousseau - Co-Chief Executive Officer, Member of the Management Board, Le Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites (FRR)

The Trust, which financially supports young researchers in the pensions field hosts its second research showcase lunch.

Follow-on effects of risky pensions investments 
How do households adjust their non-retirement portfolios when pension funds invest more in risky assets? Do they follow suit, or do households reduce their risk exposure?

Trends, and in some cases, legislation, are encouraging pension funds to take beneficiaries’ preferences into account when making investment decisions. With engagement typically low and ‘fake news’ obscuring information, how can we accurately gauge members’ ideas and put them into effect? And, is ‘the wisdom of crowds’ any way to run a pension fund?

Occupational pensions play an important role in closing pension gaps. As European pensions mature, their governance must evolve to cover emerging topics such as the continued shift from DB to DC schemes as well as broader societal and economic changes. EIOPA’s chair discusses key points of the planned revisions to IORP II and also explains how diversity and inclusion have come to the fore.

Pension funds have the ability to promote diversity and inclusion initiatives within their own organisations and their portfolios.  Should they incorporate a D&I agenda and if so, how should they decide which aspects to include?

If investors can no longer take basic requirements such as rule of law and a well-regulated marketplace for granted, how can they face up to the threats from within, such as populism which may lead to crony capitalism where the plundering of investors’ assets is acceptable? The very future of ESG investing may also lie within this conundrum.​​​​​​

One of Europe’s leading political scientists examines the Russia/Ukraine war, including how its length reduces the chances that Ukrainians return home, Ukraine's potential post-war identity and seemingly external factors, including forthcoming US elections, that may impact the outcome.

Much of Ukraine will need to be rebuilt after the war, with whole new cities created and industrial centres moving from the east to the west.  Can Ukraine be investable? What are the opportunities for institutional investors, and how will they withstand the repercussions of the war?

Join us for dinner as we reveal the highly commended investors and winners of this year's IPE European Pension Fund Awards at the magnificent Hofburg Vienna

Why is an individual pension overview needed for citizens to deal with their old age provision? What is the context of financial literacy and adequate provision, and how should the overview be designed?

Case studies from Sweden, The Netherlands and France on how dashboards work on the national level. What are the opportunities and challenges of holistic, cross-pillar overviews, and functioning of Tracking Services?

Pension data is incredibly valuable and can cause financial destruction to individuals and organisations if it falls into the wrong hands.  At the same time, cyberattacks have become increasingly sophisticated.  How can pension professionals ensure members’ data is protected? 

Are pension funds allocating more money to impact investing? How is the asset class evolving, and what are the major trends? What are some of the challenges that pension funds are currently grappling with in the impact space, and how are those being addressed? What are some of the key learnings and insights that can be passed on? 

When a global top 10 pension fund makes impact investing a cornerstone of its strategy, the world takes notice. We’ll hear from the architect of that strategy, who will explain why impact is mission-critical in meeting scheme members’ future needs.  

How does a pension fund actually ‘do’ impact and what considerations must be taken?  The essential principles of impact investing, including the risks it can and cannot address will be fully interrogated by a leading impact practitioner.  

Impact investment strategies and anticipated outcomes vary across asset classes and themes, while always aiming to provide financial returns and generating a measurable social or environmental gain. This sessions discusses the most recent thinking on impact within various investment scenarios.