Pensions Aspects April 2019

PMI aims high for 2019

2018 has been a year of uncertainty across the UK. One business commentator recently said that we should expect uncertainty for some time. Towards the end of 2018, the Board, in its annual review of our Five Year Plan made a decision to focus on some key deliverables in 2019.

Professional Trustee Standards Accreditation

You may have seen in the industry media that your Institute has been selected to deliver an accreditation programme for professional trustees. The Pensions Regulator expects professional trustees to gain accreditation, demonstrating that they meet the new standards in place. We are developing the accreditation programme ready for launch in July 2019.

Competency Framework

As part of our ongoing review into our lifelong learning platform, we launched a consultation into a new professional competency framework. When completed later this year, the framework will clarify career pathways so that members and their organisations can better select the education and CPD needed to achieve their career development. The framework will also help inform what future education may be needed. We have, in our sights, a ‘PMI Academy’ and enhanced CPD.

Online Exams

During 2018 we ran a number of pilots for online exams. We shall be extending the programme during 2019 with new centres and greater automation. We are revising our learning platforms too. This is in response to learners’ requests gathered at the start of our Five Year Plan.

We are implementing a modern, online learning and assessment programme that will allow learners and their organisations to decide when they want to sit exams, rather than have to wait for a spring/autumn sitting.

We are also able to e-proctor exams; it won’t matter whether our learners are in Stockport or Sydney, our exams are open to all.

Member Portal/Website

Work is already underway to develop our new website. This will be launched in several stages. During late summer/early autumn, we plan to launch a ‘member portal’. This will allow members and learners to access membership and lifelong learning services. Later in the year we plan to launch a larger part of the website, with full functionality early in 2020. Of course, a lot of work has to be done with the underlying systems, some of which also need to be replaced. However, we are confident that you will find the new system far better with many new features you would expect of a modern professional body. The professional standards accreditation and online exams mentioned above will be incorporated into the new website.

Events

I would like to say a few words about our events. During 2018 we made some very significant changes to our national conference to create a new flagship event: ‘Pensions Aspects Live’. With a more practical venue, an enhanced programme with multiple streams, and over 40 speakers, it attracted over 100% more delegates than the previous year. We are very proud that in its inaugural year it was nominated for an award. Our autumn seminars were sold out, leading us to book larger venues for 2019. In June 2019 we launch our ‘Trustee Workbench’ event. As the professional body with the most trustee members, this will become the ‘go to’ event for trustees and those wishing an audience with them.

In conclusion, whilst 2018 has been a year of business uncertainty, we achieved many positives, including an award for our new magazine, Pensions Aspects. We look forward to many more accolades in the future. I would like to thank our