A recording of the meeting, held on 4 November, is now available for all members of USS.
What is conditional indexation?
Conditional indexation is a form of pension scheme design where members are guaranteed benefits but increases for inflation are dependent on the scheme maintaining a positive funding position. This approach is designed to allow schemes to invest more broadly in growth assets and thereby deliver a higher expected level of benefits for a given level of contributions. It is used by a number of large pension schemes in Canada and the Netherlands. The USS trustee, UCU and UUK have all agreed to explore the long-term viability of conditional indexation in relation to USS.
Who spoke at the meeting?
Attendees heard from Lise Houle, actuary for the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, on that scheme’s experience of introducing conditional indexing in 2009. Other panellists included: Anthony Odgers, Chief Financial Officer at the University of Cambridge, also an employer representative on the USS Joint Negotiating Committee; and Dr Sam Marsh, a University Teacher in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Sheffield. Sam was a national negotiator for UCU on USS from 2018 to 2022, and a member of the JNC during that time.
Watch the recording
A recording of the broadcast can be viewed online.