Torsten Bell urged delegates at the Pensions UK Annual Conference to be “pension heroes” through the ambitious change agenda facing the industry over the next few years. Pensions Expert editor Nick Reeve hopes it’s not just for one day…
David Bowie’s classic hit ‘Heroes’ has been going round in my head ever since pensions minister Torsten Bell’s address to the Pensions UK Annual Conference in Manchester earlier this week.
“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. (Read Samantha Downes’ report on the address here.)
With the Pension Schemes Bill set to fundamentally reshape the retirement industry, the minister delivered a rallying cry to the sector, describing working in pensions as “a vocation we must recognise, a vocation we should celebrate, and a vocation most of all to live up to”.
Arguably, this was a case of preaching to the choir, but it comes after a period of rising tension between the government and the pensions sector, due in part to the now-infamous investment mandation clause.
Inevitably, this was a prominent feature of the agenda and discussions throughout the three days of the conference, and so it was no great surprise when the pensions minister was put on the spot by one of his predecessors in the role, Sir Steve Webb.
The former Liberal Democrat MP pointed out that the minister had seemed “tetchy” when facing industry representatives over the issue last month, and pressed Bell to explain why he was persisting with the investment mandation clause despite overwhelming opposition.
Perhaps Bell was caught up in Sir Steve’s web, seemingly ruffled for a moment before regaining his composure – but not before he had told the industry to “chillax” about the issue. Not exactly the message the packed auditorium was expecting.
The Pension Schemes Bill is yet to go through the House of Lords, but many of those in Manchester this week appeared resigned to the fact that the government is not going to back down on the mandation clause. Perhaps it is time for the pension heroes out there to work out how we can render the clause irrelevant long enough for it to expire. Next week could bring some significant progress in that regard.
Nick Reeve is editor of Pensions Expert.
This editorial initially appeared in Pensions Expert’s Friday Takeaway email, summarising the biggest news of the week and the latest appointments. To sign up, please register for free.
