The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is seeking to collaborate with industry and other regulators to boost innovation in the pension system.
Through a newly established innovation “service”, the regulator said it intended to “streamline the process” of bringing new ideas to market.
It will host more “discussion sessions” with the industry to discuss new ideas and the challenges that may stop them from becoming reality.
The regulator also plans to work with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to give TPR-regulated firms access to the FCA’s testing services, including its regulatory and digital “sandboxes”.
TPR’s innovation support “aims to reduce unnecessary regulatory barriers to pensions innovation by enabling early transparent discussions with pensions innovators”, the regulator said in a statement.
Its new dedicated innovation webpage explains that one area of focus for TPR is on investment and “new scheme models”, covering areas such as private market investment and superfunds.
It also wants to encourage innovation in administration and member services, including apps and guided retirement products.
“These should improve the outcome for pension savers,” the webpage states.
The announcement reiterated TPR’s intention to improve its use of data. The regulator has placed data quality and usage at the centre of its latest strategy following a structural overhaul.
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It is also part of TPR’s aim to reduce the overall regulatory burden on the pensions industry – in line with the government’s call for regulators to help boost economic growth.
Nausicaa Delfas, TPR’s chief executive, said: “Our new innovation support service will provide an environment for innovators from across industry to collaborate and test their ideas, streamline our approach and reduce unnecessary regulatory barriers.”
