Editorial: Goodbye obscurity, hello fame

Over the years I have heard elaborate – many probably insincere – reasons for why our industry is interesting. But from the current round of interviews, which has included many applicants not long out of university, there is a change. A look of scandal, or of quizzical astonishment is now the reaction as to why anyone would ask such a question.

Now, 10 interviewees does not form a statistically robust sample, but the eighth most popular story on the BBC news website this morning was heralding the advent of auto-enrolment. This was competing with ‘Soldier has baby in Afghanistan’ and ‘Gangster Richardson dies aged 78’. Is there a trend here?

Those growing up today are becoming accustomed to workplace pensions making the news. Will more people choose pensions rather than simply fall into it, as has been the norm until now?

This week we have had a bumper tally of headlines: the spat between Cameron and the DWP’s plans over the flat-rate state pension; news of a marked drop in workplace savers has coincided (actually too big to be a coincidence) with the announcement of 600,000 new savers by Christmas through auto-enrolment; there have been feel-good adverts for workplace savings during Coronation Street, and on radio and in print.

If all this does not get people wanting to take PMI exams, at the very least it bodes well for any employer seeking volunteers to form a governance committee for their enlarged auto-enrolled DC plan.