The Pensions Regulator (TPR) today publishes a new corporate plan, setting out how it will protect savers’ money, enhance the pension system and innovate in savers’ interests over the next three years.
At the centre of TPR’s vision is a landscape of fewer, larger pension schemes that deliver good outcomes for savers.
Key challenges in 2024-25 will include embedding the new defined benefit (DB) funding code due to come into effect this autumn, ensuring schemes deliver value for money, raising standards of trusteeship and driving trustees to prepare for pensions dashboards.
In years two and three of its plan, TPR will focus on the delivery of the defined contribution (DC) value for money framework, tackling deferred small pots and working with industry to develop solutions to support savers into retirement.
Chair, Sarah Smart said: “The pensions market is changing to one of fewer, larger, schemes. This presents new risks and opportunities for savers and the economy. This year’s plan demonstrates how we will address these challenges to protect savers, enhance the pension system and support innovation.
“We will encourage innovation by helping trustees support DC savers into retirement and supporting DB models and options for consolidation that protect savers.”
Chief Executive, Nausicaa Delfas, said: “This plan signals that the market should expect us to engage differently with it in the future. Our focus is not just on the fundamentals of driving high levels of compliance, but also working together to enhance the system and support innovation in savers’ interests. Internally this will involve investing in our people, developing our digital, data and technology capabilities and embedding our new structure, which aligns with our strategic priorities.”
TPR is working towards an industry with fewer schemes, all delivering good outcomes for savers. Whilst on this journey, its priorities for the next three years include:
- Across the pensions industry, raising standards of:
- trusteeship
- data quality, and ensuring schemes meet their obligations to prepare for dashboards
- pensions administration, expanding one-to-one relationships with key administrators, to increase its ability to influence saver outcomes
- For Defined Contribution:
- driving value by evolving its supervisory approach in master trusts with a greater investment focus
- developing guidance on decumulation: encouraging new models that combine flexible and predictable retirement income streams and supported pathways for savers
- ensuring compliance with existing regulations around value, in particular the value for members assessment requirements that cover DC and hybrid schemes with assets of under £100m, and working on a new framework to address value across pensions landscape
- For Defined Benefit:
- provide guidance on capital backed journey plans and expedite assessment of emerging market propositions, supporting innovation in DB
- embedding the DB funding code and new regulatory approach to DB funding
Notes for editors
TPR’s performance measurement framework provides a clear line of sight between its strategic ambitions and how it assesses its work and impact. The plan lists 22 priority outcomes, aligned with TPR’s vision for the pension landscape. The first 11 are priority regulatory outcomes and the second half are measures covering TPR will work to deliver on our objectives (strategic enablers).
TPR has reviewed its framework to better reflect its evolving priorities and developed a streamlined set of performance measures. It is shifting from two sets of indicators – key outcome indicators (KOIs), which are long-term measures aimed to track progress towards the saver outcomes over time; and key performance indicators (KPIs), which are annual measures of performance against prioritised activities – towards a combined KPI/KOI set of outcomes focused measures (priority outcomes).
- TPR is the regulator of workplace trust-based pension schemes in the UK. Our statutory objectives are to:
- protect members’ benefits
- reduce the risk of calls on the Pension Protection Fund
- promote, and to improve understanding of, the good administration of work-based pension schemes
- maximise employer compliance with automatic enrolment duties
- minimise any adverse impact on the sustainable growth of an employer (in relation to the exercise of the regulator’s functions under Part 3 of the Pensions Act 2004 only)
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