The past week has seen many in the industry looking to take stock and plan for the year ahead, with industry experts sharing their key priorities, challenges and predictions for 2023.

WTW, for instance, has suggested that 2023 will be a record year for the bulk annuity market, with at least £40bn in bulk annuity transactions and £20bn in longevity hedges predicted to be completed.

And whilst past years have seen a slower start in the risk transfer market, the increased demand from 2022 is expected to spill into early 2023.

Evidence of this is already emerging, as this week saw the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) complete a third pension buy-in policy with Legal & General (L&G) for £2bn, while the Amey OS Pension Scheme completed a partial buy-in with PIC, insuring around £400m of pension liabilities.

However, the defined contribution (DC) space may not have been receiving as much focus, with research from Mercer revealing that over two-thirds (67 per cent) of employers have not reviewed their DC providers in the last three years, with many unsure if they would pass an auto-enrolment spot-check from The Pensions Regulator.

Adequacy concerns have also persisted more broadly as rising inflation heightened concerns around pensioners purchasing power, while industry analysis showed that 41.7 per cent of households are now on track for a moderate retirement, down from 42.6 per cent in July 2022.

The future may be more promising, however, as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced plans for a thematic review of retirement income advice, confirming plans to look at how firms are responding to changing consumer amid the rising cost of living.

Industry research also revealed some encouraging findings over the past week, as pensions once again took the top spot amongst an employee benefit ranking, two years after flexible working took the top spot in Punter Southall Aspire’s annual survey.

In addition to this, a report from Hymans Robertson revealed that LGPS knowledge had improved in non-traditional areas, while research from Cardano highlighted the “critical catalysing role” professional trustee firms are playing in improving diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI).

However, Hymans Robertson clarified that there is still room to increase LGPS knowledge further through continued training, particularly in light of the recent period of "significant change".

In addition to this, Cardano stressed that while progress is being made in the DEI space, there is still further to go, with firms and schemes encouraged to continue to attract diverse talent to develop best practice DEI policies from the ground up.

Indeed, while the industry should be proud of the improvements made over the past year, it is encouraging that it is not resting on its laurels, with many looking ahead to focus on next steps for the year ahead, ready for the new challenges that will surely emerge.

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