Pensions and Retirement Planning Conference 2026
London, EC2V 7WS United Kingdom
Over the past two decades, the UK pensions landscape has undergone one of the most significant periods of reform in its history. Faced with an ageing population, increasing life expectancy, evolving patterns of work, and growing pressure on public finances, governments of all political persuasions have reshaped the way we save for and experience retirement. From automatic enrolment and the introduction of the new State Pension to pension freedoms and ongoing reforms aimed at improving outcomes, the retirement journey has become more flexible—but also more complex.
With pension wealth now representing one of the largest stores of household wealth in the UK, the decisions made today will have profound implications for individuals, employers, advisers, and policymakers alike. This conference will explore the forces driving change and consider the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.
Join us on November 11th to hear from leading experts on:
- How the retirement market is going to drive the advice industry for the next 20 years
- Closing the advice gap – discussion on targeted support and simplified advice and the use of AI
- Creating flexible retirement strategies in uncertain market conditions
- Changing demographics and the need to adapt
- How much does policy affect the delivery of client facing financial advice?
11/11/2026
Arrival & Registration
PIMFA Welcome & Opening Remarks
Liz Field, Chief Executive, PIMFA
Keynote Presentation: An evolving policy landscape
This opening session will set the scene for the day and provide an update for firms on the changing policy and regulatory landscape as it applies to pensions and retirement. The session will start by looking at pensions policy more generally, before focusing specifically on regulatory issues and the governance challenges for firms.
Jen Green, Legal Director, HR Practice Group & Kari McCormick, Partner, FS Disputes & Investigations Group, Eversheds Sutherland
Keynote Panel: Leading the Retirement Advice Revolution
The UK retirement advice market is entering its most consequential decade yet. An ageing, increasingly diverse client base; a stubborn advice gap that leaves millions without support; the arrival of AI and simplified/targeted advice regimes; volatile markets demanding more flexible retirement income strategies; and a regulator and government reshaping the rules of engagement — all at once.
In this session, CEOs from across the wealth and advice industry come together to debate how the industry should respond. Rather than a polished retrospective, this is a candid, forward-looking conversation about the strategic bets they’re making now — on technology, talent, distribution and client proposition — to still be relevant, trusted and profitable in 2040.
Ross Liston, Chief Executive Officer, M&G Wealth Advice
Andrea Montague, Chief Executive Officer, Brooks Macdonald
James Rainbow, Chief Executive Officer, St James’s Place Wealth Management
Speaker to be announced!
Keynote Speech 1: A Citizens’ Advance
Key updates from an industry senior industry leader on the evolving financial landscape – stay tuned for announcements!
Andrew Lewin MP, Representative for Welwyn Hatfield, House of Commons
Comfort Break
Keynote Speech 2: Retirement Policy
Key updates from an industry senior industry leader on the evolving financial landscape – stay tuned for announcements!
Speaker to be announced!
Presentation: Making retirement advice repeatable - Delivering personalisation at scale
The future growth of many advice firms will be driven by retirement clients. But retirement advice presents a unique challenge: clients expect personalised recommendations, while firms need consistency, oversight and efficiency.
The firms making the greatest progress are finding ways to standardise how retirement decisions are approached without standardising the outcomes themselves.
This session examines how a structured retirement framework can help advisers assess client needs, manage competing objectives and support suitable recommendations. It will also explore how firms can use that framework to build scalable retirement propositions that improve client outcomes while supporting consistency and control.”
Richard Parkin, Head of UK Retirement, T. Rowe Price
Panel: Delivering retirement advice - Lessons from the front line
Building on the previous session, this panel will consider how firm approaches to planning retirement have changed, and the considerations they have to take account of when designing strategies. Participants will be operators at the front end of the retirement planning process, with the discussion digging into advanced facets of various retirement planning strategies
Richard Parkin, Head of UK Retirement, T.Rowe Price (Chair)
Jon Greer, Head of Retirement Proposition, Quilter
Claire Trott, Head of Advice, St James’s Place
Speaker to be announced!
Networking Lunch
Keynote Speech 3: View from the Regulator
This session will set out the regulatory priorities of the FCA across pensions and retirement incomes. We are delighted to be joined by Charlotte Clark, Director of Cross-Cutting Policy at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for the latest perspective from the regulator.
Charlotte Clark, Director of Cross-Cutting Policy, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
Presentation: Closing the Advice Gap - propositional change and a continuum of support
This session will discuss targeted support six months after its introduction. This presentation will show how firms have developed targeted support solutions for retirement and implemented them across wider client bases, and how they have been integrated in the broader consumer journey.
Accenture
Panel: Closing the advice gap – discussion on targeted support and simplified advice and the use of AI
This session will consider how targeted support, simplified advice and use of AI can be utilised to ‘close the advice gap’, if at all. It will consider how firms might use it in future as well as how it might impact on market share. Panellists will discuss themes such as identifying the risks of the use of AI for this purpose, and how they can be mitigated.
Gareth Vowels, Financial Services Disputes & Investigations Partner, Eversheds Sutherland
Speakers to be announced!
Comfort Break
Presentation: Demographic change and the client of tomorrow
This session will look at the retirees of tomorrow; with a specific focus on Gen Xers, it will look at levels of wealth, home ownership and how they will likely be poorer, older and in worse health than the current demographic of retirees who hold 50% of all wealth in the UK.
Speaker to be announced!
Presentation: A changing market - Consumer choice and action in 2026 and beyond
This session will look specifically at how consumer preferences have changed over the preceding decade, and looks ahead at how this is manifesting itself in product choice.
Speaker to be announced!
Closing Panel: How the retirement market is going to drive the advice industry for the next 20 years
This session will look to provide a look ahead to the market based on the findings and learnings from the day. Are our expectations around what a ‘retired’ client will look like in step with reality? How are firms going to have to adapt to continue to be relevant? Is it just a case of more of the same? This session will be discursive in nature and aim to tie the day’s themes together.
Simon Harrington, Head of Public Affairs, PIMFA
Speakers to be announced!
Closing Remarks & Networking Drinks
Simon Harrington, Head of Public Affairs, PIMFA
Accenture UK Ltd
T. Rowe Price UK
Eversheds Sutherland
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