The most influential people in pensions. What you said…

PP asked its readers who they thought the three most influential pensions people are

08 April 2022 • 2 min read

In Professional Pensions' Pension Buzz poll this week, respondents were asked to list the three people they felt had the biggest influence on the industry.

Opperman took a strong lead with 26 votes, coming in ahead of chancellor Rishi Sunak in second (13 votes) and former pensions minister, now Lane Clark & Peacock partner, Sir Steve Webb with nine votes.

Seven respondents said The Pensions Regulator's (TPR) executive director of regulatory policy, analysis and advice David Fairs was in the top three most influential pensions figures, while five respondents also voted for the regulator's chief executive Charles Counsell.

Baroness Ros Altmann was favoured by four respondents as a key figure, while two votes each came in for MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis, prime minister Boris Johnson, and Pensions Dashboards Programme principal Chris Curry.

Other figures in the pensions industry who received a look in on the influential list included: secretary of state for work and pensions Thérèse Coffey; Pension Scams Industry Group chair and industry stalwart Margaret Snowden; TPR chair Sarah Smart; Department for Work and Pensions permanent secretary Peter Schofield; and Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) chair Emma Douglas.

Votes were also given for: MP Frank Field; former pensions secretary Rachel Reeves; Pensions Administration Standards Association chair Kim Gubler; businessman Sir Philip Green; and former Society of Pension Professionals president Paul McGlone.

The judge on the Lloyds Banking Group Pensions Trustees Ltd v Lloyds Bank plc and others case received a vote from pundits, as did PTL managing director and former PLSA chair Richard Butcher, and AgeWage chief executive Henry Tapper.

Czechoslovakian-British former MP and media proprietor the late Ian Robert Maxwell also received one vote.

One respondent said anyone "who doesn't keep introducing new pension rules every six months," was who they deemed influential.

Another said that "anyone who puts themselves out there and becomes a trustee, and anyone who is at the coal face of pensions operations," is influential.

One vote - we hope one of the earnest ones - even said Professional Pensions was a top three pensions industry influencer!