Aon announces new leadership in Ireland

Aon has announced a change to its local leadership team in Ireland, placing the team in a strong position to support the delivery of the Aon United Blueprint, the firm’s strategic plan to bring business divisions together to deliver value to clients and drive sustainable growth.

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Investing for Impact – Exploring Opportunities in Listed Equity

When it comes to pensions, impact investing can provide capital return while achieving positive social impact. Our Senior Investment Consultant Betty O'Reilly outlines how investing for impact can work for trustees.

Published in the Winter 2021 edition of the Irish Pensions magazine. To view this article please click here.

Managing defined benefit risks

When it comes to Defined Benefit pension schemes, leaders must contend with risks unimaginable just decades ago. Our own Nicholas Hatherley outlines how firms can turn to a growing risk management toolkit for support.

Published in the Chartered Accountants Ireland Magazine. To view this article please click here.

Futureproofing your DB pension scheme

As the cost to run a DB pension scheme continue to rise due to regulatory changes, how will this impede the smaller Defined Benefit schemes? Aon’s head of DB Investment, Evelyn Ryder speaks to Accountancy Ireland’s Barry McCall on ways to reduce the burden and costs that IORP II and other regulations will bring.

Published in the August 2019 edition of the Accountancy Ireland magazine. To view this article please click here.

Success through transparency

Aon senior investment consultant Betty O’Reilly discusses with Accountancy Ireland’s Barry McCall about the need for 100% transparency from pension providers, and how this helps to ensure value for money for sponsors and members.

Published in the June 2019 edition of the Accountancy Ireland magazine. To view this article please click here.

Master trust arrangements – The future of pensions in Ireland

With Master trust pension arrangements set to play a significant role in the Irish market in the coming years, Aon’s Shane Horgan speaks to Accountancy Ireland’s Barry McCall about the Pensions Authority to reduce the number of DC schemes from over 70,000 to just 150.

Published in the April 2019 edition of the Accountancy Ireland magazine. To view this article please click here.

Fiduciary management and transparency

Transparency is an area that is talked about a lot within the context of fiduciary investment management. In this article Aon’s Betty O’Reilly summarise some of the key areas where trustees and sponsors should make sure they get full transparency when selecting and monitoring a fiduciary provider. Addressing key aspects including; fees & charges, performance, reporting and underlying investments.

Published in the 2019 Spring edition of the IAPF online magazine. To view this article please click here.

Planning your pension in a volatile market

Aon Ireland Retirement & Investment CEO, Rachael Ingle, speaks to Accountancy Ireland’s Barry McCall about the need for employers to deal with several challenges relating to increased pension regulation and turbulent investment markets, as they seek to provide the best retirement income solutions for their employees.

Published in the February 2019 edition of the Accountancy Ireland magazine. To view this article please click here.

A 'Transition' Market Environment and its Implications for Portfolios

Market conditions suggest that we have moved into a transition phase this year, taking us from a long period of risky asset strength towards an eventual market downturn phase when bonds will be the only performing asset. The entry into a transition environment reflects the effect of changing economic conditions and tighter financial conditions. This transition will end once certain processes work through and a tipping point is triggered by a shock which could come from a number of sources. In this article Aon’s Denis Lyons discusses in greater detail what is meant by a ‘transition’ market environment, and the portfolio challenges that a predicted change in.

Published in the Winter 2018 edition of the IAPF online magazine. To view this article please click here.

The Rise of Fiduciary Management

Fiduciary management enables pension scheme trustees to execute their long term strategies efficiently and target better outcomes through a more effective governance structure, providing the ability to react quickly to changes in market conditions and capture opportunities. Ultimately fiduciary management is about trying to help Trustees achieve their objectives of closing scheme deficits and meeting their liabilities in the quickest or most efficient way.

Aon recently facilitated a European Investment Management Survey which collated the views on all investment matters of 97 respondents from across the continent. The respondents held various roles covering an estimated €175 billion of assets. This survey covered many aspects of investment including fiduciary management. Of those in our survey who have outsourced an element of their pension plan, 98% are satisfied or better with the funding level performance. This astonishing figure of satisfaction is a further indication of the value that Irish schemes could achieve by outsourcing the day to day running of their investment allocation to a third party provider.

In this article Aon’s Denis Lyons, shares the surveys key findings and also gives an insight to how a fiduciary approach could benefit pension schemes in Ireland.

Published in the Autumn 2018 edition of the IAPF online magazine. To view this article please click here.

Looking into the future of Irish pensions

The Irish pension landscape has been experiencing a period of change in recent years, this landscape has not only evolved dramatically – but in pensions terms, it has recently evolved at breakneck speed. With a fundamental shift away from the traditional Defined Benefit model, towards the Defined Contribution (DC) model, Aon’s Shane Horgan discusses what the future holds for Irish pensions and what exactly the implications are for employers across the country.

Published in the Summer 2018 edition of the IAPF online magazine. To view this article please click here

Trustee Behaviour and Investment

Aon’s Betty O’Reilly discusses what a traditional trustee board looks like, their approach to investment, and the overall effectiveness on making decisions on behalf of members.

Published in the Spring 2018 edition of the IAPF online magazine. To view this article please click here

European Investment Management Survey 2018

Our first European Investment Management Survey is now available.

The survey – representing the views of respondents from across Europe – has fascinating insights into approaches to pension investment.

Among the findings:

• Although many pension plans are multinational, many sponsors are not reaping the potential benefits of centralisation
• Investment options are increasing in number and complexity, making the roles of sponsors and trustees more difficult
• Returns, funding and regulation/governance are among the biggest concerns for those running pension plans
• There is a strong appetite for delegation, driven by a lack of time, increasingly complex investment choices and the need for robust governance
• Approaches, attitudes and adoption of delegation vary between countries

You can download a free copy of the survey here

We hope you find it interesting and useful. If you would like to discuss any of the findings, please contact us.

DC Governance and Risk Management

A strong governance structure is required to effectively identify, monitor and control the particular risks faced by members. In this article Aon’s Betty O’Reilly identifies some of the key risks and considerations on how they might be managed and mitigated.

Published in the Winter 2017 edition of the IAPF online magazine. To view this article please click here

DC Code 11 – Value For Money

This code sets out the Pensions Authority’s view of good practice in ensuring that members receive good value from their pension scheme. In this article, Aon’s Brian Delaney explores how pension schemes can achieve value for money from their investments.

Published in the Autumn 2017 edition of the IAPF online magazine. To view this article please click here

Cracking the DC Code – The Journey to Better Member Outcomes

The Pensions Authority released eleven Codes of Governance for DC Schemes, in order to assist Trustees in "delivering good member outcomes". Whilst these Codes are related to all aspects of DC governance, (e.g. compliance, administration, communication, investment etc), this article concentrates on Investment Governance, and discusses the key areas and solutions Trustees and Sponsoring Employers could consider to improve the level of Investment Governance applied to their DC Scheme, in order to help members achieve better outcomes.

Published in the Summer 2017 edition of the IAPF online magazine. To view this article please click here