The Merchant Navy Officers Pension Fund (MNOPF) has appointed Bob Hymas as chief financial officer. The newly-created role will see Hymas, who has worked at MNOPF since April 2011 as risk and internal audit manager, take overall responsibility for the financial and risk management operations.
What are your priorities for the role?
The priority is to support the MNOPF trustee in the achievement of its overall objectives. This cannot be achieved alone and so an important aspect of the role for me is to maintain and develop the strong team that the trustee has built up over the years.
What are the main issues the scheme is facing?
The most immediate event for MNOPF is the progression of our Old Section to buyout. I was closely involved in the £680m buy-in transaction with Rothesay Life in December 2012, and to see this through to a buyout later this year is a gratifying experience. We have worked hard to reach a position where we are able to achieve a buyout arrangement, and other schemes would no doubt love to be in the same position. But a central element of this process has been to ensure members of the Old Section are kept fully up to speed on these changes. Members need to be reassured that the buyout process is good news for them – it brings them the added security of knowing their pension benefits are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, backed up by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, and that the capital requirements of insurance providers are significantly more robust than those of pension funds. Once the buyout process is complete, the focus will then be fully on the New Section which, in common with most other pension schemes, faces the challenges of interest rate and inflation rate movements. Changing longevity is, of course, also a significant challenge.
How are these issues being addressed?
We have implemented a thorough programme of member communications around the Old Section changes – not only by writing to members, sending out regular letters and posting regular updates on our website, but also by hosting a series of nationwide forums and engaging with the media. The New Section has established its journey plan and working with the trustee and its advisers to deliver the plan is an exciting opportunity. The trustee has always been forward looking and innovative and I am sure that as the plan evolves there will be some interesting approaches that will challenge me and the rest of the team. In my role, I will be seeking to ensure that the trustee receives the relevant and timely information about finance and risk.
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