3 initiatives honored for excellence and innovation in retirement plans

Pensions & Investments recognized initiatives in the global pensions and retirement community across three categories in its 2023 Excellence and Innovation Awards, and for the first time also presented Judges' Choice awards to finalists.

Presented during the annual WorldPensionSummit conference Oct. 10-12, the awards recognized innovation in communication and engagement, investments, and pension fund design and reform.

The awards were presented by Nikki Pirrello, president and publisher of P&I and chair of the WorldPensionSummit; Jennifer Ablan, editor-in-chief and chief content officer of P&I; and Don Ezra of Don Ezra Consulting Services and former co-chair, global consulting at Russell Investments. The judges for the awards were members of the WorldPensionSummit advisory board.

Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, Montreal, was recognized for its 2022 sustainable investing report. It is the C$402 billion ($294.1 billion) pension fund's first fully online report, designed to improve inclusivity and transparency amid an increase in digital readership. The report featured an optimized and interactive menu, and used infographics to communicate complex information. Its success was evident in the 20% increase in page views and a 302% increase in French readership.

The runner-up in this category was CPF Financial Services, part of Kenya's Laptrust Defined Benefit Retirement Scheme, and its "Pay-As-You-Spend" program.

The Environment Agency Pension Fund, Bristol, England, was recognized for its biodiversity-related investments, made following the pension fund's voluntary work with the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures. In collaboration with its asset managers, the more than £4 billion ($4.9 billion) pension fund recently allocated 4% of its assets to the natural capital asset class to fulfill its strategic asset allocation.

The runner-up in this category was Swedbank Pension 1975-1981 Lifecycle Fund, aimed at participants born between those years.

AMP was recognized for its "MyNorth Lifetime" initiative — a hybrid between an account-based pension and an annuity. Unique to the Australian market, its defined contribution lifetime-income product can be opened at any age, and participants have full control when it comes to investment choices.

The runner-up in this category was the Brazilian Treasury's "RendA+, Retirement Extra Bond."

This year, the judges also decided to recognize four more initiatives under the newly introduced Judges' Choice awards. While these projects may not have ranked the highest in terms of scoring, judges felt they deserved recognition due to their unique nature or circumstances under which they were created.

In the communication and engagement category, the judges selected Stanbic IBTC's FUZE program as their pick. The initiative combines technology, fashion, food and general entertainment in a one-day event to engage with younger generations.

In the investments category, the judges selected two initiatives for recognition. London-based Universities Superannuation Scheme's "Decision-Useful Climate Scenarios" project was highlighted for tackling an important shortcoming with climate scenario stress testing, while Champaign-based Illinois State Universities Retirement Systems' Diverse Manager Portal and the Diverse Manager Investment Program was chosen for worthwhile work that showed early results in terms of outcomes.

In the pension fund design and reform category, the judges selected Azerbaijan's State Social Protection Fund for AI-driven reforms to the way the industry examines economic and social conditions in Azerbaijan's households.