Why you should attend the Pensions Expert DB Strategic Summit

When we start the new semester following, hopefully, a lovely summer break, what better way to get back into the groove than by attending the Pensions Expert DB Strategic Summit. The conference takes place at the wonderful Cameron House, on the shore of Loch Lomond, on 16 and 17 September 2025.

The first half of the year was certainly jam-packed with changes in pensions policy that will affect the future of the defined benefit (DB) sector, whether private sector or the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). And the second half of the year will prove no different.

We’ve got the passage of the much-trailed Pension Schemes Bill, currently making its way through parliament, that will create the framework for a more consolidated sector.

But what does that framework mean for pension schemes and their advisers? How will the industry evolve and develop, not least with the introduction of pensions dashboards? And what does this all mean for investment strategies and productive finance?

The DB Strategic Summit, organised by Pensions Expert  and DG Publishing, will cover all this and more. As chair of the conference, I want to use our time to really get under the skin of what the real-world implications will be of the significant changes we are seeing.

We’ll be hearing from the Pensions Regulator about what it sees as the main challenges for the sector and how its approach to regulation is evolving. We’ll also have roundtables and panel discussions looking at the future of defined benefit pensions and what the policy and regulatory priorities mean in practice.

We’ll hear from those who are at the forefront of running schemes and spend some time thinking about the future of ESG and impact investment in a changing and, increasingly, polarised world.

We’ll pick up on the hot topics of buyout, superfunds and pooling, and what all this means for our sector, now and in the years to come. And we’ll, of course, hear from those at the forefront of designing and delivering new and innovative investment ideas that can help schemes get the returns they are seeking, while also delivering for their members and the future world they will live in.

This should be a fantastic event, bringing people together to discuss and debate the big issues of the day. You can find out more about the conference at the dedicated event site.

I hope to see you there.

Dawn Turner is an independent adviser and the former chief executive of Brunel Pension Partnership, as well as the chair of the DB Strategic Summit.