Pensions UK has confirmed it will go ahead with its proposed changes to its subscription model and membership categories.
The trade body has reported on its consultation with members over changes to its subscriptions model and membership categories – changes it said were needed for reasons including fairness and increased consolidation across the market.
It said the changes recognise the "increasing amount of work we do for some parts of our membership". It also said changes will help with rebalancing its income.
Proposed changes included increasing the maximum subscription for fund members (pension schemes) to £35,000 from £23,405 in 2025 and dividing master trust members and business members into three categories – business members with a master trust, ‘pure' master trusts, and ‘pure' business members.
Pensions UK also proposed creating a new membership category for Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds.
Following consultation feedback, the Pensions UK board has confirmed it will go ahead with the proposals. It said this will ensure it delivers a strong member offering as well as value for money. It added it will discuss the phasing in of free delegate places, where appropriate, for master trusts.
Pensions UK said changes in fees will be phased over three years from 2026 to 2028.
The organisation said business members with a master trust will have their subscriptions merged into one ‘multi membership' which will be based on the master trust assets under management (AUM). The banding for this will increase, with the cap rising to £50,000 for £10bn AUM and these master trust members will get free delegate tickets for their trustees. The ‘pure' master trusts will continue to have subscriptions based on AUM and ‘pure' business members will see no change to subscriptions.
The organisation confirmed there will be five classes of members – fund members, local government members, master trust members (no business member links), business members with associated master trusts, and business members. It added it plans to remove the ‘international member' category and move these members to whichever of its five membership categories is most appropriate (fund member in most cases). It said there will be no change to the services these members receive and their subscriptions will be calculated based on their new membership category.
It added for the new LGPS membership category, the maximum fee for the funds will sit at the current fund member terms, remaining at £23,405, but it might revisit the category when the future of the LGPS landscape is clearer.
Pensions UK said: "We are asking some members to pay more, but we will also increase the value our members get for their money. And there will be no extra cost at all for many parts of our membership, such as LGPS funds, smaller and medium-sized schemes and Business Members that do not run master trusts.
"Although we feel there is broad support for our proposals, we take careful note of the concerns that some members have raised and will look to address them. The concerns mostly relate to free delegate places at our events, awareness of our policy work, the quality of networking at our conferences and suggestions that we need to connect better with HR managers.
"The Pensions UK board has discussed the feedback received from members and has decided to go ahead with the proposals, subject to addressing the points raised above. The board underlined the importance of a strong member offering, good communication about our services and value for money."
