The National Association of Pension Funds has unveiled a pre-election manifesto, which its chief executive has claimed will ensure the “long-term interest of savers, not the short-term interests of politicians”.
Joanne Segars said a major part of the proposals would see the creation of an organisation to oversee future pensions legislation.
The new body, the Independent Retirement Savings Commission, was due to be unveiled this week at the NAPF annual conference in Liverpool as part of its ‘Pensions Possibilities’ pre-election manifesto.
Commenting on the document, Ms Segars said that in the past five years progress had been made in covering 4m people through automatic enrolment in workplace pensions, as well as in clarifying what people can expect from the state pension.
She added: “We now have an opportunity to build on these changes and develop a pension system on which millions of people can depend. To do this, government and industry must work in partnership. Our manifesto sets out the six recommendations for the next government to help us achieve this.”
Speaking about the pensions guidance service due to start next April, Ms Segars said this must be monitored very closely. She advocated building on the service with a broader education programme “that pension savers benefit from throughout their working and saving life.”
A third-party funding model, similar to that used to deliver debt advice, could be used to offer an improved education programme to help people plan their retirement, she added.
Adviser view
Chris Williams, chief executive of Bristol-based Wealth Horizon, said: “The government is continuing on its journey to offer more flexibility to those in retirement, but for the most part it is now simply clearing the path rather than making any new in-roads.”
BOX-OUT
| NAPF recommendations |
• Enable pension schemes to invest in the economy • Reduce tick box regulation to drive higher standards of governance • Commit to continued roll-out of automatic enrolment • Supplement guaranteed guidance and monitor outcomes |
