Christine Wilson

Christine Wilson is a principal in Ernst & Young LLP’s people consulting practice in Cleveland. She has more than 19 years of experience working with large organizations to manage the cost and risk of their retirement programs in both the private and public sectors across a variety of industries, including energy, transportation, defence contracting, consumer products and manufacturing.

Christine is EY Americas’ pension investment governance solutions leader and has served as engagement leader supporting multibillion-dollar investment governance initiatives for her clients. As part of her role, she meets regularly with major investment advisers and investment management providers.

Christine has experience advising clients on pension risk management, investment strategy and governance, evaluation of investment governance models and vendor management and selection, as well as collaborating with them on their transformation journeys, providing HR advisory services.

Christine earned a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics from John Carroll University. She is a fellow of the Society of Actuaries and an enrolled actuary.

CIO: What do you think will be the biggest innovation in the institutional asset allocation industry in the next 10 years?

Wilson: The strong investment returns many pension funds have achieved recently, combined with today’s higher interest rate environment, mean that many sponsors of defined benefit plans find themselves in a significantly better financial position than they were just several years ago. In many cases, the improved position means that a sponsor’s “end game,” be it purchase of annuities from an insurance company or a runoff of the plan on a low-risk basis, can be achieved significantly sooner than was previously the case (or has at least led to the sponsor thinking about the possibility of an end game). Against this backdrop, I expect that plan sponsors and fiduciaries will be increasing their focus on investment strategies that are both supportive of achieving their desired end game while also providing protection against losing recent funding-level improvements. In response to this, I expect the investment community will need to innovate its thinking on asset allocation to investment strategies that are more “end game aware”—this may well lead to a further increase in focus on investments that provide contractual cash flows.

CIO: What issues do you expect to dominate financial decisionmaking and the economy in the next 18 months to three years?

Wilson: I believe that the issues that will dominate plan sponsors’ thinking over the next 18 months are interest rates, inflation, U.S. elections and the geopolitical climate — the outcome on each of these issues will no doubt impact their plans’ financial position. Interest rates are tied closely to inflationary pressures. The decisions on interest rates by the Federal Reserve will have a major impact on borrowing costs, investment returns and economic activity. The result of the U.S. elections could lead to regulatory changes, such as financial regulation and re-evaluation of trade agreements, affecting global trade flows and economic cooperation, as well as overall investor sentiment. The geopolitical climate, which arguably suggests an overall worsening of international relations and an increased potential for conflict, can significantly impact global economic activity, trade policies, interest rates and currency exchange rates.

CIO: What actionable thing have you learned over the course of your career that has proven itself this year?

Wilson: Reflecting on my career, one key realization that has repeatedly proven true is the understanding that legacy practices are not always future-fit. The current year further emphasizes the need for institutional asset owners, such as retirement plan sponsors, to thoroughly evaluate transformative strategies that will best serve both their plan members and their enterprises. In particular, this year, a number of my clients, prompted by varying challenges, including availability of in-house expertise, new products and new providers in the market, regulatory changes and shifting internal priorities, have challenged whether their existing investment operating model continues to be fit for purpose. Our position as neither asset owners nor asset managers affords us the impartiality to concentrate on building the right transformative approaches that best serve fiduciary entities. Our methods challenge the legacy mindset and focus on responsible governance and risk oversight through careful evaluation of skill sets necessary to align retirement program outcomes with the sponsor’s strategic goals. My takeaway from these experiences is that achieving success often means commitment to learning, unlearning and relearning.