Carline: Good DC administration isn’t the sole responsibility of the administration provider
The Pensions Administration Standards Association’s defined contribution (DC) working group has published updated guidance on DC governance.
The industry-wide body said a lot had changed since the original guidance was published four years ago - change that had reinforced the need for practical and objective guidance for trustees, employers and administration providers.
The updated guidance focuses on six key areas: data; transitions; decumulation; reporting; controls and procedures; and the chair's statement, which PASA said is a new addition to this version of the guidance.
The updated guidance emphasised how important clear and informative administration reporting was for good DC governance - noting that all stakeholders needed to understand the content of the reports and identify what's essential, what's useful and what's "nice to have".
PASA DC working group chair Lesley Carline commented: "Good DC administration isn't the sole responsibility of the administration provider. Oversight and governance is at three levels - the administration provider, the employer and either trustees or independent governance committees.
"This guidance provides a useful resource on what's expected from all parties in the administration process, specific to their pension arrangement type."
PASA said it would continue to refresh the guidance in light of further changes in DC pensions over the next 18 months - such as The Pensions Regulator's single code of practice and the pensions dashboards - as and when details are confirmed.
PASA's DC governance guidance can be found here.
