The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is transforming how it operates and gripping a ‘unique opportunity’ to make pensions work better for savers, its latest Annual Report and Accounts 2023 to 2024 shows.
During the past year, TPR introduced more dynamic market oversight to respond to a pensions landscape of fewer, larger schemes. This enabled it to address emerging risks, while supporting innovations in savers' interests.
A quarter (25.2%) of schemes were targeted for intervention, seven in ten scheme memberships were covered by relationship supervision and 11m eligible jobholders have now been automatically enrolled into an automatic enrolment pension scheme.
The consolidating pensions market brings opportunities for fewer, larger schemes to invest in diverse assets and deliver better outcomes for members. TPR remains committed to protecting savers, enhancing the pensions system and supporting innovation in the interests of savers.
TPR Chair Sarah Smart said:
“Our message this year has been clear. Second best is not good enough for savers. We want to see them supported at every stage of their retirement journey and get good value for money, and robust trusteeship is key to that.
"We are raising standards of trusteeship so trustee boards can deal with an increasingly complex pensions landscape and make good stewardship and investment decisions in the interests of savers.
“The pensions landscape continues to radically transform and now is the time to embrace what is a golden opportunity to improve saver outcomes.”
TPR Chief Executive Nausicaa Delfas, said:
“We are responding robustly to a period of significant change in the pensions landscape as it moves towards fewer, larger schemes, and recognise the important role that pensions play in the wider financial ecosystem.
“This report shows we are transforming, becoming more market-facing and outcome-focused to protect, enhance and innovate in savers’ interests.
“With the forthcoming Pensions Bill and the government’s pensions review we can work with industry to capitalise on this unique opportunity to make the pensions system work for everyone.”
Significant changes made over the year included the aligning of TPR's structure to its strategic priorities and changing the way TPR works, while several new senior roles were appointed.
The 2023 to 2024 Annual Report and Accounts highlights several achievements for TPR, including the following.
- Publishing Private Market Guidance to help all schemes consider how to invest in a broader range of asset classes.
- Working with the DWP and FCA on a joint framework to bring value for money to savers.
- Implementing recommendations from the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee to help improve pension schemes resilience to market shocks.
- Bringing the General Code of Practice into force, making it clear what TPR expects from trustees.
- Ensuring trustees are acting in response to climate related risks and opportunities and reporting on their activities.
- Publishing a first of its kind trustee diversity survey to provide a baseline for diversity of trustee boards. We will use this baseline to measure changes over the longer term 78% of trustees felt a diverse trustee board was important.
- Driving the industry to review and prepare their data for dashboard duties through updated dashboard guidance and a data quality focused campaign.
Notes for Editors
TPR met, or almost met, 18 of its 20 key performance indicators (KPI) for 2023 to 2024. TPR was not able to meet the KPI to implement new elements of the Pension Schemes Act 2021 surrounding notifiable events and they will be implemented once government responds to the underlying regulations it consulted on. The other missed KPI was to achieve high employee engagement. TPR’s latest staff survey result showed a 57% employee engagement, a reduction from 2022 to 2023’s score of 70%. The lower score followed a challenging year including periodic industrial action relating to pay. Several steps are being taken to address this latest figure.
TPR is the regulator of work-based pension schemes in the UK. Its statutory objectives are: to protect members’ benefits; to reduce the risk of calls on the Pension Protection Fund (PPF); to promote, and to improve understanding of, the good administration of work-based pension schemes; to maximise employer compliance with automatic enrolment duties; and to 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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