Wealth of Advice, Swale House, Mandale Business Park, Durham, DH1 1TH
The pensions industry is urging the new Labour government to provide further detail on the scope of its promised pensions review, and to push ahead with a number of ongoing pension reforms.
The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) has identified five key areas for pensions reform for the next government to enact in its first 100 days to better secure the financial futures of millions of savers currently saving towards retirement.
In particular, the PLSA urged the incoming government to support adequate pension savings; help savers navigate choices at retirement; support well-run defined benefit (DB) schemes, bridge the pensions ad growth gap, and support the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).
Labour’s promised pensions review is a key area that the industry is watching out for, with Eversheds Sutherland’s head of pensions, Jeremy Goodwin, highlighting the review as an “important opportunity to take stock of where we are and to develop a long-term vision for the UK pension system”.
This was echoed by People’s Partnership chief executive Patrick Heath-Lay, who suggested that the change of government is an “opportunity to think creatively, with pace, about the future of pensions in the UK”.
“I hope that Labour’s pensions review will help revitalise the consensus that drove forward the success of automatic enrolment and create a roadmap for the future,” he continued.
“It’s crucial that government and the pensions sector can work constructively to enable greater pension fund investment in priority sectors, while ensuring the interests of pensions savers are at the heart of decisions."
Broader calls for change are already emerging, as Aegon’s pensions director, Steven Cameron, urged the new government to set up an independent Pensions and Savings Commission within its first 100 days of office.
He stated: “With pensions being such an important long-term savings vehicle for millions, changes shouldn’t be rushed. And however ‘super’ the Labour majority, cross-party support can offer stability and certainty.
"We need a well-thought-through, logically sequenced reform agenda, and the pensions industry stands ready to support this.”
If you want a better view of what your future could be, we'll have a chat over a cup of coffee in our Durham office and work out if we can add any value to your financial picture.
Wealth of Advice are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, reference number 563909. This website is for information purposes only and is not personal advice.
We are committed to providing products and service of the very highest standards. If you feel that we haven't lived up to your expectations in any way, however, we would like to know so we can put things right for you. If you have a complaint, make sure you contact us directly. Accordingly, we will do all we can to resolve your complaint by the end of the next business day. However, if we can't do this, we will write to you within five working days to tell you what we have done to resolve the problem, or acknowledge your complaint and let you know when you can expect a full response. Furthermore, if we haven't issued our response within eight weeks from the date you first raised your complaint, or if you're dissatisfied with our response, you can ask the Financial Ombudsman Service - www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk - for an independent review. The Financial Ombudsman Service will only consider your complaint once you've tried to resolve it with us, so please take up your concerns with us first and we'll do all we can to help.
Wealth of Advice Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales, company number 07709624.
VAT Number: GB131946515