TISA endorses new cross-industry report into small pots
- TISA endorses new Small Pots Cross-Industry Co-Ordination Group Report, which builds on finding from the DWP working group in 2020.
- Existing structures most effective way to resolve issue, states TISA.
TISA endorses the new Small Pots Cross-Industry Co-Ordination Group Report https://www.plsa.co.uk/Policy-and-Research/Document-library/Small-pots-cross-industry-co-ordination-group-update-report, which builds on findings from the DWP working group last year. Small, deferred pots are a growing problem for the industry, which will only be exacerbated by Covid-19’s impact on the workforce..
TISA is pleased that action is now being taken to address the inevitable detriment to consumers. It is believed that there are more than 3 million deferred savers, invested in default options, with pot sizes of under £100, and a total of 10.5 million with pot sizes under £1000. The Pensions Policy Institute predicts that there will be 27 million deferred pots by 2035, which is detrimental to both savers and scheme providers.
TISA agrees that pension providers should be able to automatically transfer their members’ small pots when they change jobs, particularly given the low consumer engagement with pensions. However, as per the report, ‘until a low-cost, at scale transfer system is available, a legislative solution implementing a mass scale consolidation system will not be possible”.
TISA recommends the re-use of existing structures when implementing any change to help tackle the small-pots issue. Different regulatory solutions carry their own challenges, and a fully collaborative approach between the government and the industry is required to resolve the issue.
Whilst there are several challenges to overcome for Providers that administer multiple pots for individuals to consolidate these automatically, they should be working towards providing a consolidated consumer view.
Adopting a regulatory definition for what constitutes a small pot will be a key step towards resolving the issue. This, along with the incoming £100 cap below which small pots will not be charged flat administration fees, are required if the UK is to create and maintain a world-class workplace pensions system. A robust framework needs to be in place to facilitate any transfers, allowing these to take place to take place rapidly and securely.
A member-initiated solution is likely to only have a limited effect on reducing the number of small, deferred pots. In the longer term, the Pensions Dashboard will be key to increasing engagement.
Carol Knight, COO at TISA said “We are pleased to see that the findings from the DWP working group last week have been taken forward. This report is crucial to resolve the growing industry problem of small pots.
“TISA has long supported efforts to resolve the problem of small pension pots. We believe that, with full collaboration between the Government and the industry, a robust and effective framework can be created to facilitate the consolidation and transfer of small pots.
“This report is a great start, and we look forward to working closely with both industry members and the government to take the findings forward and develop regulatory and legislative solutions.”
-ENDS-
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.