TISA comments on the closure of the DWP consultation ‘Enabling investment in productive finance’
Commenting on the closure of the ‘Enabling investment in Productive Finance’ consultation today, Renny Biggins, head of retirement at TISA, said:
“TISA welcomes all efforts to improve outcomes for pension savers. We therefore support the Government’s proposals to give defined contribution schemes the ability to access an increased number of private and long-term investments, and in turn the returns these asset classes offer. Improving retirement outcomes is in the shared interest of consumers, Government and the industry, and these changes take us closer to that goal.
“However, to safeguard savers, it is crucial that the correct support and guidance is given to governance boards, so they have all the necessary information required to make investment decisions involving assets with performance fees attached. While net returns can be higher in these asset classes, there are other aspects that need to be considered from a Value for Money perspective.
“Cost remains a major factor for many decision makers when choosing an appropriate auto-enrolment investment strategy for their workforce. A potential increase in costs, irrespective of the trade-off of more stable and higher longer term net returns, may not immediately incentivise these decision-makers. An aim of the continued drive for better value for money within the auto-enrolment framework should therefore be to inform this group about the potential benefits of including illiquid assets within their default investment strategies.”
Contact:
Kuba Stawiski
Cicero/AMO
07856031906
kuba.stawiski@cicero-group.com
Notes for Editors
07856031906
The Investing and Saving Alliance (TISA) is a unique, rapidly growing membership organisation for UK financial services.
Our ambition is to improve the financial wellbeing of all UK consumers. We do this by focusing the convening the power of our broad industry membership base around the key issues to deliver practical solutionsand devise innovative, evidence-based strategic proposals for government, policy makers and regulators that address major consumer issues.
TISA membership is representative of all sectors of the financial services industry. We have over 200-member firms involved in the supply and distribution of savings, investment products and associated services, including the UK’s major investment managers, retail banks, online platforms, insurance companies, pension providers, distributors, building societies, wealth managers, third party administrators, Fintech businesses, financial consultants, financial advisers, industry infrastructure providers and stockbrokers.
As consumers, the financial services industry and the economy react to and recover from the effects of the pandemic, the importance of the three key pillars of work that TISA prioritises has never been more apparent:
- Strategic policy initiatives that influence policymakers regarding the financial wellbeing of UK consumers & thereby enhancing the environment within which the industry operates in the key areas of consumer guidance, retirement planning, later lifetime lending, vulnerable customers, financial education, savings and investments.
- TISA is recognised for the expert technical support provided to members on a range of operational and regulatory issues targeted at improving infrastructure and processes, establishing standards of good practice and the interpretation and implementation of new rules and regulations covering MiFID II, CASS, ESG/RSI, operational resilience, Cyber Risk, SM&CR and a range of other areas.
- Digital transformation initiatives that are driving ground-breaking innovation and the development of industry infrastructure for greater operational effectiveness and revenue promoting opportunity for firms. TISA has become a major industry delivery organisation for consumer focused, digital industry infrastructure initiatives – TISAtech (a digital marketplace that brings together financial institutions and FinTechs for greater collaboration and innovation) and TURN (TISA Universal Reporting Network – a digital platform providing a secure data exchange for financial services using blockchain technology) – alongside projects Digital ID and Open Savings & Investment. This reflects TISA’s commitment to open standards and independent governance.