The government and the Pensions Regulator must continue their work in encouraging both employers and employees to engage with pensions, the head of policy at Aviva has said.
John Lawson said it was vital that all firms engaged with the “process of staging and automatic enrolment as early as possible”, and that although most employers are aware of their legal duties, and were keen to comply with these, some firms have left it late.
Mr Lawson said: “Aviva has, to date, staged more than 1,500 employers with Aviva group pension schemes.
“The main area of difficulty in implementing automatic enrolment has been the poor quality of payroll and HR data, combined with the detailed rules requiring calculation of contributions over defined periods, which are not necessarily compatible with normal pay cycles.
“As a result, employers have had to undertake data cleansing and have made wide use of postponement to allow them to align contribution calculation and collection with normal pay cycles.”
His comments followed the publication of a 16-page paper, Getting Ready for Ageing: a Manifesto for Action, from the charity Ready for Ageing Alliance.
It argued that policymakers, individuals and the voluntary sector need to be better prepared to deal with an ageing society, and that education would be key.
In August, Moody’s Investment Services published a 22-page report, Population Ageing Will Dampen Economic Growth Over the Next Two Decades.
The report warned that “super-aged” societies, where more than 20 per cent of the population is 65 or older, will increase from three now to 13 in 2020. The report suggested letting people work longer and educating people about saving well ahead of retirement.
Adviser view
Pete Matthew, managing director of Penzance-based Jacksons Wealth Management, said: “Anything that can boost savings awareness has to be a good thing, though a pension is not the only retirement income vehicle.”
