mallowstreet week

Pardon the Interruption

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On average over 150 pieces of new content are published from across the industry per month on mallowstreet. Members get access to the latest developments, industry views and a range of in-depth research.

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In the first of our new Sunday series, we look back over the week and give you some insights into what’s shaping the community. In this edition:


COVID-19: Are you angry yet?

There is much uncertainty during this period of crisis, and it is clear we as a community are trying to wrap our heads around what to do right now. The mallowstreet top 10 stories from the week have been dominated by the pandemic and rightly so. 

  1. RPI change: Schemes stand to lose up to £80bn 
  2. Covid-19 and your sponsor covenant 
  3. Admin in times of Covid-19: Security concerns, but member enquiries down
  4. Auditors cautious about signing schemes off as going concern
  5. Don’t Blame COVID-19 
  6. Responding to Covid-19 – what pensions steps should you take now?
  7. TPR updates Covid-19 guidance  – trustees can suspend transfers
  8. What impact will the Covid-19 crisis have on pensions?
  9. Cannibals in the age of Covid-19
  10. Will DB schemes have a liquidity problem?

But there have been two things that have stood out to me this week:  

A paper by MFS entitled ‘Don’t Blame COVID-19’ really struck a chord with the community. Papers on mallowstreet always perform well on the site especially through our CPD Centre, but this paper had over 70% of clicks on the Industry Views email on Wednesday. 

Another interesting insight which follows on a similar tone is part of mallowstreet’s Flash Insight Series, the COVID-19 Concern Index. COVID Concern Index subsides – have UK pensions schemes settled into the ‘new normal’?



The timing of the decrease in concern from the community came following the government’s lockdown measures. It will be interesting to see if the reason behind the popularity of the ‘Don’t Blame COVID-19’ paper and of the Concern Index trend are somehow linked in sentiment. 

Are you feeling that COVID-19 going to become a scapegoat for poor business decisions and investments?

Click here to take the 3-minute survey now and let us know how you are seeing the current landscape.

Schemes set to lose £80bn

The government’s proposed change to the flawed retail price index will increase overall DB deficits, potentially requiring higher employer contributions, as index-linked gilts will lose between £60bn and £80bn in value, a new paper has found. Read more…

The question is, will there be mitigating measures for the RPI changes for schemes that might already be facing problems of liquidity.

Let us know what your thoughts are on these changes and how you are preparing your fund.

The popularity of digital events

Another trend from this week has been the growth in interest in mallowstreet’s digital events. We have been very pleased with the turnout and the levels of interaction, but there has also been a surge in popularity of the post-event write-ups. 

Below are the key points from our events:


We have an exciting series of digital events on our schedule, please visit our events section and secure your place at these events.

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