Taylor Brightwell-Smith is regulatory theme lead for administration, dashboards and cyber at The Pensions Regulator
There is “more to do” in pensions admin and underinvestment has been “normalised”, The Pensions Regulator (TPR) says.
Speaking this morning (29 April) at the Pensions Administration Standards Association Annual Conference, TPR regulatory theme lead for administration, dashboards and cyber Taylor Brightwell-Smith said underinvestment in admin has been "normalised", warning the regulator will "hold trustees to account when administration is not prioritised".
He said the industry must move away from models that focus on cost, highlighting the need for administrators and trustees to "work towards a shared agenda" and communicate to ensure better member outcomes.
He added to determine success in the sector, trustees must "lead with ambition, treating admin as a priority" and while "extraordinary work has been done already", there is "still more to do".
"Capacity, sequencing and good governance are defining risks," Brightwell-Smith said, adding the regulator will be "pragmatic" when looking at administrators, but warned they must work with trustees "early, openly and often".
He added in May, TPR will launch a named contact approach providing administrators with a "clear, accountable contact" to provide consistency across the environment, which he said will lead to better conversations and more coordinated communications.
He added the regulator will focus on identifying risks early to help protect savers, urging administrators to contact the regulator should it run into problems as "raising emerging risks with us is not a problem".
Brightwell-Smith added pensions administration is "not about tidying processes, it is central to the landscape", as the world of admin "is moving fast and the bar has been moved" as it enters a "new era".
He warned admin must be "capable and transparent", noting simply having a process in place is "no longer enough" and administrators must move from a trust-based system to an evidence based one. He added while good intent still matters, administrators need effective challenge, noting expectations "feel higher" now.
He also touched on pension scams, which are leaving members "permanently and often devastatingly affected", stating while administrators do take defence against scams seriously, "there are still gaps" and greater defences are needed to strengthen resilience, adding cyber risk is "no longer theoretical, but a real threat".
