- The winning essay will be published in Pensions Aspects magazine and Professional Pensions.
- Runner up essays will be published on the Pensions Aspects website
- Registration Deadline for essays: 17:00pm Monday 8 February 2021
- Essay submission deadline: Friday 19 March 2021
- Announce results: Monday 5 April 2021
How to enter the 5th PMI Student Essay Competition
Entrants should write an essay of 1,500-2,000 words on the following topic
What benefits could be realised by further diversifying trustee boards and other governance bodies in pensions (eg. IGCs)? What steps can be taken by the next generation of pensions professionals and the industry as a whole to improve diversity in this area?
The entries for the 5th essay competition is now open, register here.
Guidelines and judging criteria
Entries will be judged a panel of experts including: Lesley Carline – PMI President, Tim Phillips - PMI Vice President, Matt Dodds – Director, ITM, Jonathan Stapleton – Editor, Professional Pensions, Tim Middleton – PMI Director of Policy and External Affairs.
Read the tips below:
- Remember you are writing an essay, not an article
- Make sure you read the question thoroughly and answer the question
- Tell a story in your answer: what you are going to say, what are you saying, and what have you said?
- Keep the background information to a minimum and don’t take too long to get to the relevant points. As a guide, the introduction should generally make up a maximum of 3 paragraphs
- Ensure you give a complete and detailed argument rather than a high-level overview
- Include enough evidenced examples throughout to support your point. If you cannot include enough detail of the example due to word count, you can include links to further information in the footnotes
- Ensure your examples are appropriate to the question
- Make your essay engaging and interesting to the reader
- Avoid using too many colloquialisms
- Be ruthless with your editing – it’s easiest to cut from the introduction if you are struggling with word count
- Ask someone to proofread your essay before submitting
- Check your facts!
Previous winners
September 2020
Winner: Jennifer Harrison, Analyst, Willis Towers Watson. Read essay here.
Runner up: Ben Picknett, Senior Consultant, Muse Advisory. Read essay here.
Runner up: Jed Newton, Pension Administrator, Willis Towers Watson. Read essay here.
March 2020
Winner: Michelle Cracknell, Independent Pension Consultant
Runner up: Ben Picknett, Senior Consultant, Muse Advisory
Runner up : Jennifer Dean, Pensions Administrator, First Actuarial LLP
September 2019
Winner: Ella Purkiss, LCP
Runner up: Jed Newton, Willis Towers Watson
Runner up: Richard Goldring, Smart Pension
Runner up: Peter Laurence, Trafalgar House
May 2019
Winner: Chris Burtenshaw, Barnett Waddingham
Runner up: Joanne Carr, First Actuarial
Runner up: Jed Newton, Willis Towers Watson
Special mention: Zak Cuerden, Capita Employee Solutions
Notes/Sources
Last update: 26 November 2020