Editorial: A new dawn fades?

I reminded Martin Bogira of Prudential about this the other day and he replied: ‘We would like to run some of these, but we would not be able to because of FSA rules.’ All the power of the message would be stripped out.

There is a saying in our industry that there is never a new idea in pensions and I think that is partly because there is always an old rule that prevents new ideas emerging.

There certainly has been no shortage of people with all sorts of reasons why Nick Clegg’s pensions for mortgages idea is a bad move. Now, as someone who is all in favour of replacing the old with the new, even I am not fully convinced of the proposal, but for those who have the highest hopes for their children I can see some of the attraction.

Our industry’s default is to find reasons why change will not work. Often this is an aversion to real risks, but at times these complaints read as if they come from a hymn sheet. Many have heralded auto-enrolment by unleashing a host of devastating facts on why it will disappoint.

PwC tells us a 22-year-old who starts saving at 8 per cent today will only get a pension equal to a third of her salary compared with the two-thirds her grandparents receive. Many more stats darkly allude to low levels of awareness. It’s dispiriting stuff. Can we start emphasising the positives and possibilities instead?