On the go: The Cost Transparency Initiative has unveiled its templates and guidance for asset managers and suppliers of services to pension schemes, encouraging reporting of costs and charges in a standardised format so trustees can easily compare managers and asset classes.
Unveiled on Tuesday after months of gestation, the tools cover the vast majority of pension scheme assets and are expected to be adopted by schemes, consultants and asset managers representing around £2tn in assets under management.
The CTI expects asset managers to be in a position to report against December 2019 and April 2020 year-ends using the new tools.
Launched in November 2018, the CTI was tasked with implementing, promoting and encouraging the use of the new cost transparency templates – as proposed by the former Institutional Disclosure Working Group – across the pensions and investment industries.
Commenting on the launch, Guy Opperman, Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion, said: “High fees can eat into savers’ pension pots and add to employers’ costs. This initiative will help pension schemes take a holistic view of costs and charges as they strive to ensure their members get value for money.
“I’d strongly encourage trustees and investment managers to embrace the Cost Transparency Initiative and adopt the new templates. The government will legislate robustly to make this happen if the industry does not resolve this on a voluntary basis at speed.”
Mel Duffield, chair of the CTI, added: “This is another big step forward for this project and for cost transparency in the pensions industry. Each of the three founding organisations – the PLSA, IA and LGPS Scheme Advisory Board – has shown its commitment to taking forward the excellent work undertaken by Dr Chris Sier and the entire IDWG team, and we are delighted to have reached this stage."
A spokesperson for the Pensions Regulator welcomed the new initiative:“ We will be working with trustees to highlight the benefits of these new standards, including how they can help with member engagement activities.
"The standards should be particularly helpful for defined contribution schemes as they have a duty to publish costs and charges information from their annual chair's statements. The ability to obtain costs and charges in this standardised way will also enable trustees and scheme managers of defined benefit and public service schemes to strike better deals with their providers."
The templates and guidance are available to download directly from the CTI webpage here.
