Europe-wide discussions are underway on the need for transparency in the pension sector and on giving consumers the information to make good retirement choices.
The talks involve two European bodies, including the European Federation of Financial Intermediaries and Advisers (Fecif).
Steve Ryan, deputy head of unit insurance and pensions at the Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, which is part of the European Commission, recently held a meeting with a Fecif delegation.
The talks covered the proposed Pan-European Pension Plan (Pepp) and the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD).
Fecif represents around 250,000 advisers and intermediaries across Europe and its honorary chairman, Vincent Derudder as well as Simon Colboc, who is heading up the Federation’s Working Group on the Pepp were both in attendance.
Mr Colboc initially explained Fecif's main concerns on the Pepp, with regards to excessive documentation that could confuse and mislead consumers.
For Fecif, the plans underway for Pepp, IDD and packaged retail and insurance-based investment products (Priips), see the European Commission encourage transparency and ensure a balance between the information documents required for consumers and the effectiveness of these papers.
The goal is to avoid giving consumers information that they can’t digest.
The commission wants to achieve three key objectives for the Pepp: portability; ease of sale cross-border; a domestic product that can be used in member states where it is normally not available.
The commission is planning to present an initiative on the Pepp in mid-2017, while a study on the comparison of pension systems of the member states, edited by a private contractor, will be published early next year.
On the IDD, one of the main concerns for all present was the potential distortion of competition, due to different interpretation at national level.
Johannes Muschik, chairman of the association said: “Fecif has remained active on behalf of its members since formation in 1999. We continue to work hard to advocate for sensible and workable regulation that is in the interests of all stakeholders, not least consumers”.
