On the go: Due to the current pandemic, there is a “greater need” for accurate data reconciliation, according to Louise Sivyer, policy principal at the Pension Regulator’s regulatory policy directorate.
Speaking on Monday at a Pensions Administration Standards Association webinar, Sivyer said it was important to “make sure we don’t allow for data to become inaccurate during this period”. This was due to the fact the pandemic and its consequent financial crisis has “given rise to new risks” as far as data are concerned.
She added that staying on top of data had to be a priority, and would be “more painless” by reviewing and attending to it at ad-hoc intervals.
During the event, PASA also launched its data management plan guidance, which covers key areas such as the understanding of pension scheme data, the data process, measuring data quality and managing the data management plan.
According to Kristy Cotton, chair of the PASA data working group, the organisation has deliberately not designed a template for schemes because the guidance contains a lot of information in itself to help pension funds.
Although there is no official deadline for schemes to complete a data management plan, since there is not an official requirement to do so, Cotton advised that schemes set up their own targets.
She said: “Holding complete and accurate data goes hand-in-hand with meeting the primary objective of any pension scheme: to pay the right benefits, to the right person, at the right time.
“A data management plan is a critical scheme document and forms part of good scheme governance. It’s implementation offers a means of documenting the data held by a pension scheme and a policy for managing it effectively.”
Chris Tagg, PASA board director, noted that “the importance of managing the quality of pension scheme data is greater than ever, and rightly so”.
“Developments in legislation and regulation — such as GDPR, guaranteed minimum pension equalisation, buy-in/buyout and pensions dashboard — have pushed data quality and management to the top of the agenda for both the trustees of pension schemes and their employers.
“It’s now becoming critical for data to be complete and accurate for a scheme to meet its duty to members, as well as legislative requirements, but it’s a big task and the difficulty for many schemes lies in what to prioritise.”
