DB Pensions Forum 2025: highlights

Our DB Pensions Forum 2025 series has now come to a close, with the final session held in Manchester on 23 September.

During September, we hosted events in Glasgow, Leeds, Birmingham, London and Manchester, bringing together a range of pensions professionals to share perspectives on the future of defined benefit (DB) schemes.

Across the series, our experts – joined by leading external trustees and investment specialists – explored some of the most pressing topics for DB decision-makers, including:

• Endgame innovation – from traditional buyout and run-on to alternative risk transfer.
• The evolving regulatory environment – updates on the new funding code, ORA and cyber risk.
• Administration challenges – capacity, resourcing and dashboards.
• Investment perspectives – aligning portfolios with long-term strategy.

Our bespoke and focused forums enabled participants to engage in open discussion, ask questions, and exchange practical solutions. Each event closed with a relaxed networking reception, giving delegates time to continue conversations with peers and industry experts.

See the highlights

The film recorded at our London session, and the photo gallery below, offer a glimpse into the discussions and energy that ran through the series

We would like to thank everyone who joined us across the UK and contributed to the debates that made this year’s DB Pensions Forum such a success.

Feedback from our guests

"Loved the mix of topics and the short presentation format worked very well."

"Really enjoyed the small group format, it gave rise to a very natural session of free-form questions/interactions at the end."

"I thought it was great to touch on many topics in quite high level. Perfect for a morning session with various types of pensions professionals there."

"I think the speakers were all excellent, very engaging and able to relate to each others' topics, so there was a good thread throughout."

"A good showcase of the talent within Barnett Waddingham."