What Does 2020 Hold for Pensions?

Pension schemes have always had to deal with large amounts of industry and regulatory changes, and now The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has sent a very clear message that robust governance must not be allowed to slip.

The recently reintroduced Pension Schemes Bill will enforce new powers for TPR enabling action to be taken sooner, significant fines to be imposed, a better view of corporate transactions taken to prevent reckless behaviour and help protect savers’ money. Although the majority of pension schemes are very well run, high profile cases such as Carillion and BHS have damaged public confidence in the UK pension system.

We will also see changes to member communications being high on the agenda.

Member engagement with their retirement savings is too low and the Pensions Bill brings some clarity on the future of the Pensions Dashboard (the digital solution that will allow people to see all their lifetime pension savings in one place). Although still some way off completion, Schemes will start to receive details about the data standards to move the Dashboard forward. This could result in Trustees and providers needing to carry out major work to cleanse their data.

Ultimately, this could be good news for members, but the question is ‘will this also help by providing members with a better understanding of their retirement benefits’? Communication with members is key but the message from members remains that information and communications are still complicated and difficult to understand.

Hopefully 2020 could be the kickstart that members and Schemes need.