GMPeasy’s Post

It's been a whirlwind week as many in the pensions industry headed up to Manchester for the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association Annual Conference 2023! With so many industry updates, we've rounded up our top highlights and debates from the annual conference and the wider industry this week... The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association shared updated recommendations on the 'Five Steps to Better Pensions' - https://lnkd.in/eSFMaSHP - alongside new proposals to help encourage greater investment in assets that can promote growth in the UK economy - https://lnkd.in/epkBwYnT The pensions industry was urged to ensure that it is prepared for an increasing amount of consolidation -https://lnkd.in/eCx7Kbyf The Pensions Regulator confirmed plans to take 'assertive' action against those schemes failing to meet its value for money expectations - https://lnkd.in/eGKxzy9T The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) revealed plans to consult on decumulation communications "in the next few months" - https://lnkd.in/evGG47_e - also providing an update on its ongoing small pots work - https://lnkd.in/eDYZRST2 The Taskforce on Social Factors launched a consultation on new recommendations as to how the pensions industry can better incorporate social factors into investment decisions - https://lnkd.in/ew8WArFe

In this week's news round-up, Reeves proposes pensions overhaul to spur growth plus more! Read now: https://ow.ly/6GU450Qb6XB #actuarialcareers #actuarialnews

🔮 Let's roll back to May 2010 and my predicitions during a face to face meeting with the FSA in Canary Wharf. We were discussing the previous decade of Stakeholder Pensions failing to win over Consumers, despite a 50% reduction in average fees being charged. Aviva and Deloitte had completed pan European research into the retirement savings gap, hailed as the most comprehensive deep dive into the shortfall amounts facing workers at retirement. You don't have to be an Actuary and build a fancy excel spreadsheet with complex formulas to know why people don't save enough into pensions; ➡️ Affordability ➡️ Lack of relevance to common needs ➡️ Lack of trust because of being far too complex to understand THE PROBLEM IN 2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣0️⃣ The average shortfall was around £200,000 for those Most at Risk (MaR) e.g. workers facing the biggest proportionate drop in income at retirement. THE PROBLEM IN 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣3️⃣ The average shortfall has leapt by 25% to £250,000 for those MaR. The Coalition Government chose to implement Auto Enrolment (AE) policy from 2012 onwards. Forcing people to save into a flawed product solution that fails to meet the needs of the vast majority of savers was a terrible idea because it was virtually guaranteed to deliver the same (or similar) outcomes to 10yrs of Stakeholder Pensions introduced under Tony Blair's New Labour. So in 2023 the AE chickens came home to roost, as did my prediction that low cost platforms would increase shortfalls, not reduce them. It astounds me that UKFS is allowed to promote the same sh!te product solutions as 5 🌟 after failing to meet the needs of 92% of workers. The FSA knew back in 2010 that Pensions La La Land would probably fail to do the right thing for consumers, and they were right. Now we have Consumer Duty and a £600bn financial harm elephant in the room that Price and Value expectations will expose in 2024. With Gen X workers losing between £60,000 to £100,000 each over the last decade, I expect my platform to be busy referring SMCRs to their Enforcement Division in the New Year. 🔮 I predict big disruption to be in motion by #RDay 🎃 2024 and Restitution Funding to top £100m within 12 months. Just Saying 🤷♂️ #BUOM

We are delighted to announce that Muzinich has been shortlisted for two awards at the upcoming European Pensions Irish Pensions Awards 2023 in the following categories “Investment Manager of the Year 2023” & “Fixed Income Manager of the Year 2023”. European Pensions note that “The awards aim to give recognition to those pension funds, pension providers, advisers and pension professionals who strive to maintain the highest standards of excellence and professionalism in everything they do, despite the challenging economic and political landscape they find themselves operating in. To learn more about the awards please click here - https://lnkd.in/dgjVEvh #IrishPensionsAwards Descriptions of, or references or access to other publications do not imply endorsement of those publications. The award mentioned above may not represent investor experience with Muzinich & Co. or Muzinich funds or services, nor does it constitute a recommendation of Muzinich & Co. or its services. Please click to learn more about the awards, methodology and criteria. https://lnkd.in/e7ydx8Az

What can we expect from a Labour Government on Pensions? Whoever the next Government is, there are significant benefits to consensus and ensuring a stable and long term pension policy agenda, which has cross party agreement. The proposed “Life Ready, Job Ready’ initiative has potential to provide great foundations to support meaningful financial literacy from a young age. This may go some way to help with the bad debt, longer term savings and pension adequacy challenges that we’re all trying to address Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association #PLSA #PLSAannual2023 #mastertrust Scottish Widows Workplace Pensions

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published guidance setting out a staged timetable for connection to the Pensions Dashboards. This welcomed development sets out a condensed 18-month staging timeline for pension schemes, meaning that from today, the first schemes to connect will have a little over 12 months to ensure they're ready for connection ahead of the 31 October 2026 deadline. Heywood Chief Strategy Officer Chris Connelly commented: "The minister has just confirmed the dashboard staging dates, giving the very first providers a little more than the 12 months’ notice they were promised. It’s welcome news as it gives the certainty that many schemes and providers were holding out for before getting going in earnest. We encourage anyone who has not already started to prepare to use this announcement as their starting pistol. There is a lot to get done. We are now helping the PDP to complete all of the remaining standards and guidance that ISPs, providers and schemes will need to finish the job." You can read the full guidance from the DWP here: https://lnkd.in/eXxaH5sM

🚨 OUT TODAY: ‘Scrap all pensions tax relief and national insurance rebates, replacing them with ‘savings bonuses’, top pensions expert Michael Johnson says The proposals form part of a broader plan for a simpler, fairer and more sustainable pensions landscape. It presents a pensions framework that considers, as a coherent whole, the three main sources of retirement income; the State Pension, and personal and workplace-derived savings. It pulls together proposals made in 30+ separate papers, written over the last 15 years. One of the main proposals - scrapping all pensions tax relief and national insurance rebates, and replacing with savings bonuses - is designed to increase more people to save, would save the public purse at least £10 billion each year, and provide a radical simplification of individuals’ tax affairs. Read the briefing: https://lnkd.in/eAPWS8Gs #pensionspolicy #retirementsaving #ukpensions #statepension #retirementincome