The COVID crisis and the volatility of 2020 has revealed some lessons for the investment team at Coal Pension Trustees (CPT). It has taken a more top down view of managing its portfolio looking at economic themes, risk exposures, cashflows and its manager roster holistically. Amanda White talks to CIO Mark Walker about where it sees return opportunities, the prospect of manager consolidation and how it has embraced technology for better investment practices. The two pension funds of the legacy coal industry in the UK are unique in many ways. Where most defined benefit funds in the UK are looking to match liabilities in their allocations, Coal is focussed on return-generating returns. They are probably the most mature defined benefit funds in the country – having not received any new money in 26 years since privatisation of the industry – but they take the most amount of risk, all in order to meet their obligations (and with a Government guarantee sat behind the liabilities).