Former Financial Conduct Authority director Tracey McDermott and TPR’s executive director of market oversight Ben Gunnee are also joining the regulator’s board.
Nearly three-quarters of Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds do not have enough staff with the right skills to carry out day-to-day operations, according to an Aon poll.
A targeted safeguard to end the alleged misuse of small self-administered schemes has been proposed, with the government citing average losses of £38,400 a person.
The Association of Member Nominated Trustees has broadly backed the direction of the regulator’s five-year strategy, but warned that consolidation, professionalisation and UK growth objectives must not weaken member representation or fiduciary duty.
Robust governance, strong controls and meaningful human oversight will be critical if trustees and providers are to harness AI effectively while maintaining member trust, according to tech firm Lumera.
Following feedback from across the LGPS, the government has extended the deadline for pools to receive regulatory authorisation and revised the authorisations it expects them to achieve, as well as moving deadlines relating to the transfer of assets to the control of pools.
An imminent change to data protection complaint-handling rules could pose a risk to trustee boards that do not have adequate oversight of third-party administrators and other data handlers.
The government has been urged to act promptly to address the gender pension gap and the lack of retirement options for the self-employed, following the publication of the Pensions Commission’s interim report.
The Pensions Commission’s final report is slated for early next year, with Baroness Jeannie Drake promising that it will “address the need to secure adequate income in later life and a pension system that is fit for decades to come”.
UPDATE: The House of Lords has rejected the government’s latest efforts to limit the scope of the mandation clause, with one former pensions minister warning the whole Pension Schemes Bill could be at risk.
Members of the House of Lords have warned that the legislation backing the scale test is too restrictive and could stifle innovation among DC providers.
In a debate last night (20 April), peers voted to reject the government’s revised wording of the reserve power, despite attempts from Labour representatives to reassure opponents about the measures.