Analysis: Since its publication in 2008, Thaler and Sunstein’s book Nudge has gathered a growing number of fans. David Rowley examines its strong influence on UK pensions.

Lesley Harold, pensions know-how lawyer at Norton Rose, discusses so-called safeguarded rights, which were a former partner’s share of a member’s contracted-out rights.

Gary Squires, head of Zolfo Cooper's pensions advisory services, and his colleague Andrew Palmer, who is director, urge trustees to be aware of the risks of corporate refinancing and to negotiate robustly to protect members’ interests.

Anne-Marie Winton, partner at Nabarro, offers 10 benefit changes and liability management exercises that can be made to an occupational pension scheme to manage risk without going as far as ceasing accrual.

For those of you who are trustees and have watched helplessly as the credit crunch took hold affecting all asset classes, I do believe that we have good news for your allocation to property.

In hard times, trustees come under particular pressure to take a stake in the employer sponsoring their scheme or its assets.  It can seem like an obvious win-win for the pension scheme to own the factory that the employer occupies.  However, there are clear downsides too: the factory may be almost worthless when the employer’s business fails. 

The Pensions Week interview with the shadow secretary for work and pensions Theresa May is now online.