UK – Investment consultants can expect to have greater responsibility advising pension schemes on their investments, following the recommendations of the Myners report, according to Adrian Swales head of investment practice at Aon Consulting.

Speaking at Aon’s annual investment conference in London, Swales said pension schemes would need to consider whether to outsource more or to allow trustees to take on greater responsibility.

But he added: “We were pleased to see that the Myners Report recommended schemes should move to scheme specific benchmarks, but there are aspects that worry us. We believe the proposal for more active paid trustees cuts across the essentials of trust law.”

Speakers at the conference also argued that more and more pension schemes are likely to look at property and hedge funds to get better returns on their investments, with further pressure placed on defined benefit provision.

Paul Taylor of Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, outlined the future role property could expect to play: “Property has an attractive yield and secure income stream,” he noted.

Chris Woods of State Street Global Advisors in London spoke of the benefits of bringing hedge into a portfolio: “ Optimal risk allocation can be achieved through overlays and long/short market neutral, enhancing returns without adding unreasonable new risks.”