People’s Pension1, the UK’s largest commercial master trust, has welcomed the passing of the Pension Schemes Bill, hailing it as a turning point for UK pensions, with reforms which aim to deliver long‑term benefits for savers and the wider industry.
The Bill, which completed its legislative scrutiny through Parliament last night, is now set to become law. It is positive news for savers, including the seven million people who hold a workplace pension with the People’s Pension. The proposals, put value for money and saver outcomes clearly at the heart of a more efficient workplace pensions system.
Commenting on the Bill passing through Parliament, Patrick Heath‑Lay, Chief Executive Officer of People’s Partnership, provider of the People’s Pension, said:
“This is a historic moment for the UK pensions’ market. The Bill contains several important market reforms that will drive scale and efficiencies, while ultimately ensuring that better value is delivered to millions of pension savers. These changes will further strengthen the UK pensions system and help it drive investment into the wider UK economy.
“We are particularly encouraged by the introduction of default consolidator schemes, which offer a strong solution to the long‑standing challenge of small, deferred pension pots, alongside the inclusion of value‑for‑money measures within the legislation. Ensuring savers can clearly understand and assess the real value offered by different providers is essential. Equally we welcome the proposals to introduce default decumulation solutions to support members both plan and manage their retirement savings effectively. We are well into the planning phase of our own solution and believe it is vital component in supporting people make the right financial decisions that can be complex and hard to navigate.
”These reforms are only the beginning, and the needs of savers must be kept firmly at the heart of this evolving process to future proof retirement saving. We look forward to working constructively with Government, regulators and alongside the industry to ensure the measures are implemented in a way that builds on the success of automatic enrolment and delivers meaningful long‑term benefits for savers.”
As a scheme that already operates at the scale envisaged by the Bill, with more than £40bn in assets under management, People’s Pension is well placed to support the delivery of these reforms.
The Bill is expected to gain Royal Assent shortly.
Notes to Editor:
- People’s Partnership is a business without shareholders; it reinvests its profits with the aim to help customers and achieve better financial outcomes for everyone. It provides People’s Pension, the largest commercial master trust in the UK based on members, serving seven million pension savers across the UK and managing £40bn in assets.
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.