People’s Pension has called for pensions adequacy initiatives to break the cycle of failed ideas and experiment with new ways of engaging people with their retirement savings.
The UK’s largest commercial master trust is calling time on well-intentioned, traditional efforts to get people excited about their pensions, which have had limited recent success.
People’s Pension is asking the pensions industry to support its mission to experiment with new and different types of pensions engagement to find out what truly works. It began expanding its own experiments last year with a national advertising campaign aimed at exposing the realities for members of different pension provider ownership models, achieving a 35% increase in brand relatability for calling out shareholder-owned firms through its use of ‘fat cat’ imagery.
People’s Pension has also focused on Gen Z, who are most likely to opt out of pensions but have the longest time to save for retirement and the greatest opportunity to make a significant positive difference to their pension pots. It has experimented through its ‘Pension Drop’ campaign, which ‘drops’ pensions information into unexpected places to reach new audiences who aren’t seeing or acting on traditional provider communications.
People’s Pension first worked with lifestyle social media content creators to bring pensions to their followers for the first time, receiving above benchmark engagement versus similar influencers and content, and overwhelmingly positive feedback.
Since then, it has expanded the campaign to ‘drop’ pensions information in unusual ways in the real-world, giving away 3,500 pension-themed Christmas crackers at Victoria Station in December. Its latest experiment saw it descend on Brighton Railway Station this weekend to hand out 3,000 Valentines’ Day cards with a pensions-themed love poem and the message that pensions are a great way to love ‘future you’.
Kirsty Ross, Proposition Director at People’s Partnership, provider of People’s Pension, said: “We are at real risk of sleepwalking into another generation of under-saving. If we continue to approach pensions adequacy with the same thinking and the same tactics, we shouldn’t be surprised when we get the same disappointing results.
“The pensions industry desperately need to break the cycle of failed ideas and try something different and new. We owe it in particular to Gen Z, the youngest generation of our current workforce, because we have the greatest opportunity to make the largest possible difference to their retirement outcomes if we get this right.
“Tried and tested methods of engagement aren’t enough. We have made the decision to expand our repertoire and find new ways that cut through using things we know Gen Z actually like. That means hijacking popular culture, partnering with people they watch and listen to and being in public places where we’re impossible to ignore.
“But we can’t do it alone. That’s why we’re calling on the industry to join us, be bold, try something different and find what can truly get people excited about pensions. Only then will we have the opportunity to meaningfully address the adequacy challenge and change the retirement fortunes of a whole generation of savers.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
About People’s Pension’s #PensionDrop campaign: About People’s Pension’s #PensionDrop campaign: People’s Pension’s #PensionDrop campaign is designed to encourage more people, particularly younger savers, to engage with pensions in a more accessible, everyday way. By dropping simple, practical pension know-how into familiar cultural moments, social media and real-world experiences, the campaign aims to move conversations about future security out of traditional financial settings and into places people already are.
Notes to editor:
- People’s Pension is the largest commercial master trust in the UK based on members, serving seven million pension savers across the UK and managing more than £40bn in assets. It is provided by People’s Partnership, a business without shareholders, it reinvests its profits with the aim to help customers and achieve better financial outcomes for everyone. This assessment is determined by membership size. People’s Pension currently has more than seven million members, which, according to publicly available industry data, exceeds the membership of any other commercial master trust.
- All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2074 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 26th – 27th January 2026. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).
About People’s Pension’s #PensionDrop campaign: About People’s Pension’s #PensionDrop campaign: People’s Pension’s #PensionDrop campaign is designed to encourage more people, particularly younger savers, to engage with pensions in a more accessible, everyday way. By dropping simple, practical pension know-how into familiar cultural moments, social media and real-world experiences, the campaign aims to move conversations about future security out of traditional financial settings and into places people already are.