Thank you for tuning in to our live blog coverage from Manchester. You can access our related coverage below.
Pension scheme trustees and providers can play pivotal roles in a pension industry driven by a vocational need to do its best by savers, according to the pensions minister.
“The pensions industry is full of heroes, and we need pension heroes, clear about what the task is, delivering for members and feeling the responsibility of acting on others’ behalf,” Bell said.
“This room is full of people with a vocation, because pensions aren’t just the jobs we do. Pensions are a vocation we must recognise, a vocation we should celebrate, and a vocation most of all to live up to.”
An industry-wide approach can bring effective consolidation of multiple small pension pots and deliver greater consumer benefit than detriment, according to a report presented by Pensions UK and six pension providers. The review showed that, as of 2023, the average UK scheme member had 1.3 pension pots, and 43% – 6.3 million – of these pots were worth less than £1,000.
The ‘red, amber, green’ proposed approach to value for money in defined contribution (DC) pension schemes has performed poorly in a recent behavioural finance exercise commissioned by The People’s Partnership. The master trust provider commissioned the Behavioural Insights Team to test several different Value for Money (VfM) metrics with consumers.
Data quality was once seen as an administrative afterthought but is now a strategic priority fundamental to every aspect of scheme management, from member engagement to risk transfer and regulatory compliance. Panellists discussed how many pension schemes continue to grapple with poor or inconsistent data that undermines decision-making and increases cost and risk.
The Pensions Commission’s approach will be guided by core principles of “fairness and sustainability”, said Professor Nick Pearce in the opening session of Pensions UK’s Annual Conference in Manchester. An interim report has been promised in the spring.
Read full coverage of Pearce and Baroness Jeannie Drake’s session.
Any attempt to raise the state pension age is likely to increase unfairness and inequality, a longevity expert has warned. Ben Franklin, deputy chief executive of the International Longevity Centre, said state spending on the state pension was “meagre” compared to other developed nations, but the £100bn-a-year cost of repaying the national debt meant the government’s hands were tied.
With the pensions sector facing up to impending consolidation across the board, the Association of Member Nominated Trustees has voiced concern about member representation in larger pension schemes.
Co-chair Maggie Rodgers told delegates: “We’ve lost the member voice in a lot of master trusts.”
The UK’s pension system needs systemic, long-term solutions to ensure everyone can afford to retire, according to senior master trust representatives. They lamented the lack of political will to increase auto-enrolment contributions and said systemic change was still needed.
Defence and aerospace investments have been excised from many portfolios in recent years over concerns that they cannot satisfy schemes’ environmental, social and governance policies – but increasing numbers of asset owners and managers are increasing their exposure to these sectors, according to Morningstar.
