Making connections
Editorial: There is nothing more limiting than failing to seek input and solutions outside your immediate remit. Making unexpected connections is a large part of what drives innovation.
There is nothing more limiting than failing to seek input and solutions outside your immediate remit. Making unexpected connections is a large part of what drives innovation.
The world of pensions has not seen many who deserve the badge of ‘innovator’ lately, the dashboard being a notable exception.
It is perhaps this that Richard Harrington, in his comment piece, is trying to tell the industry when he challenges it to make pensions easier to interact with.
With a background in business, and not having been part of the pensions circus for very long, Harrington might recognise that some of the processes for pensions are complicated and costly.
He points out that the industry could benefit from looking to banking or engineering for ideas on how to drive a savings culture and engagement. The pensions dashboard, when it comes, could deliver those things; let’s hope that it will.
Navel-gazing is of course not limited to any particular sector; often and unconsciously it takes place on a geographical level. Our feature takes a look at other pension systems around the world and some of the techniques employed there, from alternative valuation methods to flexible benefits or compulsion.
Illustration by Ben Jennings
While big-impact changes to UK pensions have indeed prompted some people to take the occasional glimpse at the Netherlands or Australia, UK pension professionals rarely venture to look at the Colombian, Singaporean or less frequently cited European systems – yet there might be lessons there, too, whether good or bad.
On a more fundamental level, by focusing on UK-specific pension problems, the pensions industry also risks being seen as provincial by sponsoring companies. Many employers are multinationals and take a global view of their business, within which the UK pension scheme might not even be the largest they run.
Being aware of the context a scheme sits in and what other pension considerations a company might have outside the UK could potentially put trustees in a stronger position in sponsor negotiations.
Sandra Wolf is editor at Pensions Expert. You can follow her on Twitter @SandraCWK and the team @pensions_expert.