Mr Hyde Harrison, giving his final speech as chairman of the National Association of Pension Funds at its conference in Manchester, said regulation continued to be a “serious flaw” in the system.
He said: “The mass defined contribution market brought about by auto-enrolment will mean that the current regulatory split of the market between the Pensions Regulator and the FCA will become increasingly apparent – and increasingly unsustainable.
“With pensions becoming an employer duty, and with the growth in the numbers of pensions, it can only be a matter of time before we move to a single regulator for pensions. We’ve been saying this for some time – and we’re not alone – but we do need to have this debate quite openly now.”
Mr Hyde Harrison admitted that the shift would not be easy, but the difficulty should not cause people to dodge the issue.
He said: “The priority has to be ensuring better and fairer pensions for people. We need the right regulatory environment to help us achieve that.”
At the conference, the chairman also launched NAPF’s new Stewardship Disclosure Framework to help funds hold their managers to account over how well they apply the Stewardship Principles on the fund’s behalf.
Adviser view:
Hugh Nolan, director for national consultancy JLT Employee Benefits, said: “The NAPF chairman’s call for a single pensions regulator is an eminently sensible idea. The rationalisation of the FCA and the Pensions Regulator would constitute a step in the right direction towards providing a streamlined pensions regulatory process. The scale and success of the government’s programme means the arbitrary division between the PR and the FCA is no longer practicable. Anything which creates a simpler pensions environment should be welcomed.”
