Employer Forum
Every year The East Sussex Pension Fund run an Employer Forum to help employers find out about the Fund, to meet key fund personnel and to understand some of the major pension issues that lie ahead.
Employer Forum 2026
We will be holding the 2026 Employer Forum virtually on 19 November 2026 from 10am to around 1pm!
The forum is a great opportunity for East Sussex Pension Fund Employers to come together and get the most up to date news on the Fund!
We are keen to receive questions from employers in advance of the day, so please email [email protected] if there is anything you'd like us to cover.
If you are an employer in the ESPF, you should have recently received a Teams invite to the Forum. If you haven't and you wish to attend, then please email us with your job title and employer name so we can add you to our records.
The proposed agenda (subject to change) is shown below.
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
| 10:00-10:20 |
Welcome Employer Engagement Update Employer Section ESPF Website |
Steph Fernando - Employer Engagement Officer Hayley Deeley - Employer Engagement Officer |
| 10:20-10.30 |
Update from Pension Committee Update from Pension Board |
Councillor Georgia Taylor (Chair of Pension Committee) Ray Martin (Chair of Pension Board) |
| 10:30-10:40 |
Looking back, moving forward |
Susan Greenwood - Head of Fund Ian Gutsell - Chief Finance Officer |
| 10:40-11:00 | Communications update | Paul Linfield (Pensions Communication Manager) |
| 11:00-11:10 | BREAK | |
| 11:10-11:40 | Border to Coast Introduction and working with Fund |
Milo Kerr - Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Russell Wood – Head of Investments |
| 11.40-12:00 | Pensions administration update | Paul Punter - Head of Pensions Administration |
| 12:00-12:30 |
Governance Update Access and Fairness – absence and leave |
Dave Kellond - Head of Governance |
| 12:30-13:00 | Employer Q&A |
Susan Greenwood – Head of Pensions Dave Kellond - Head of Governance Russell Wood – Head of Investments Paul Punter - Head of Pensions Admin Paul Linfield - Pension Communication Manager Hayley Deeley - Employer Engagement Officer Steph Fernando - Employer Engagement Officer |
| 13:00 | Close |
Employer Forum 2025
East Sussex Pension Fund would like to thank all employers who attended our 2025 Forum on the 14th of November. We hope you found the day useful.
Shown below is the full slide deck
Employer Forum 2025 Master slide deck
We have now collated all of the feedback from the day.
Attendees rated the Forum as a whole at 8.94 (1 very poor to 10 excellent).
We also received a number of comments, which we will now look to analyse and report back on.
There were a few employers who stated that they would like some communications support (for example to promote our self-service website 'My Pension' as part of the joining pack for new members).
Please email [email protected] with any requirements.
Contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions.
Employer Forum 2024
This year’s Employer Forum dedicated to supporting employers involved with the East Sussex Pension Fund was held virtually on the 28th of November.
The Forum was well attended and we thank all employers present for taking the time to attend.
The day comprised of a number of presentations on topics relating to the Local Government Pension Scheme. See agenda below. For any employers who couldn't attend, we will cover some of these topics in our next employer newsletter in the New Year. If anyone wants the slides for a specific presentation, please email:
Following the Forum we emailed all employers to let them know about the availability of member training from 2025 and asked for your support in promoting this with your employees. In addition we asked for your help in promoting 'My Pension', our new member self-service website.
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
| 10:00-10:15 |
Welcome and Employer Engagement update |
Steph Fernando and Matt Hunt |
| 10:15-10.30 | Pension Committee update | Councillor Gerard Fox (Chair of Pension Committee) |
| 10:30-10:45 | Pension Board update | Ray Martin (Chair of Pension Board) |
| 10:45-11:15 | Admissions and cessations | Dave Kellond - Compliance and Local Improvement Officer |
| 11:15-11:40 | Pensions administration update | Paul Punter - Head of Pensions Administration |
| 11:40-12:10 | Coummunications update | Paul Linfield (Pensions Communication Manager) |
| 12:10-12:45 | Lunch | |
| 12:45-13:30 | Triennial valuation 2025 | Barnett Waddingham (Fund actuary) |
| 13:30-14:15 | AVCs- new contribution portal | Prudential |
| 14:15-15:00 | Open Q&A | Fund representatives |
| 15:00 | Close |
Employer Forum 2023
This year’s Employer Forum was held at the Amex Stadium (the home of Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club). The Forum is dedicated to supporting employers involved with the East Sussex Pension Fund.
The Forum was well attended and we thank all employers present for taking the time to attend.
The day comprised of a number of presentations on topics relating to the Local Government Pension Scheme. See agenda below. We will cover some of these topics in our December 2023 newsletter for any employers who couldn't attend. If anyone wants the slides for a specific presentation, please email:
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
| 09:00-09:30 | Registration - Coffee and Pastries | |
| 09:30-09:35 | Welcome | Tim Hillman (Engagement Manager) |
| 09:35-09:50 | Introduction and Update | Councillor Gerard Fox (Chair of Pension Committee) |
| 09:50-10:05 | Update from Board | Ray Martin (Chair of Pension Board) |
| 10:05-10:40 | Environmental Investment | Storebrand Asset Management |
| 10:40-11:00 | Pension Administration Update | Paul Punter (Pensions Administration Manager) |
| 11:00-11:10 | Coffee Break | |
| 11:10-11:30 | i-Connect Update | Paula Jenner (Engagement Officer) |
| 11:30-11:45 | Governance Update | Mike Burton (Governance Manager) |
| 11:45-12:15 | Barnett Waddingham | Fund Actuary |
| 12:15-12:35 | Communications Update | Paul Linfield (Communications Manager) |
| 12:35-13:00 | Training and Closing Remarks | Tim Hillman (Engagement Manager) |
| 13:00-13:30 | Lunch and Close |
Feedback was very positive, which is great news. Employers scored the overall Forum 8.55 out of 10.
On the day we asked employers to complete a survey. We will now analyse the results and see if any improvements can be made on the way we engage with employers.