USS Joint Expert Panel

21 May 2018

Joanne Segars OBE has been appointed Chair of the Joint Expert Panel

On Friday, 18 May Universities UK (UUK) and the University and College Union (UCU) jointly announced that Joanne Segars OBE has been appointed as Chair of the Joint Expert Panel on the USS valuation.

Joanne is a widely respected figure in the pensions community and is currently the Chair of Local Government Pension Scheme Central Ltd, which pools the investments of nine large Midlands-based local authority pension funds. 

Prior to this, she worked for many years in senior positions in the pensions sector, including as Chief Executive of the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association for over ten years and as Head of Pensions at the Trades Union Congress. Joanne is also a current board member of NOW: Pensions and the Environment Agency. 

Terms of reference for the panel were agreed by UCU and UUK earlier this month and will be approved by the newly-appointed Chair.   A further announcement outlining the other members of the panel will be made before the end of May.

The panel will review the methodology and assumptions in the current valuation with the aim of building confidence, trust and increasing transparency in the valuation process. It will provide an opportunity to consider the questions raised about the valuation by some scheme members and some employers. 

The panel is due to commence its work at the end of May. It will meet over the course of the summer, and will aim to submit a report to UUK and UCU in September 2018.  

Now that the Chair is in place, the terms of reference will be finalised and confirmed and the work programme agreed. The framework for the panel to obtain evidence and hear from expert witnesses will also be outlined alongside relevant contact details for the panel.

Both the USS Trustee and Pensions Regulator have signalled that they will positively engage with the panel.