Pensions Buzz

This week respondents backed calls for The Pensions Regulator (TPR) to run a register of charges and for Local Government Pension Schemes (LGPS) to be merged, but said there is no role for paternalism in auto-enrolment (AE).

Just over half this week's respondents said a merger of the Local Government Pension Schemes (LGPS) was feasible, while one in eight said the proposal was impractical.

More than four out of five respondents said employers had no moral obligation to persuade staff to participate in a scheme once they had been auto-enrolled and had opted out.

The majority of contributors said trustees were generally using the flexibility in the system when setting assumptions for valuations.

Almost six out of 10 contributors backed Labour's call for a public register of scheme charges, run by The Pensions Regulator (TPR).

Respondents tell us the industry will not simplify charges without being pushed by government, and that squeezing consultant fees is a "false economy".

Many contributors said the conversion factor of 20 used when testing defined benefit (DB) schemes against the lifetime allowance (LTA) undervalued the benefits promised.

Two thirds of contributors backed the idea of a single regulator for all workplace schemes, despite pensions minister Steve Webb rejecting the idea.

The majority of respondents back calls for the auto-enrolment (AE) opt-out to be removed. Six out of ten contributors said this could be necessary, while just a quarter rejected the idea.

Buzz respondents don't have much faith in the pensions industry's ability to sort out charges without government intervention. Almost six out of 10 contributors said this wasn't going to happen, while half that number thought the sector was capable of...