Policy News Journal - 2013-14

Mark Bryan, co-author and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Essex, said:

“Even accounting for people's different financial and household circumstances, we found that a preference for living today over saving for the future was a strong predictor of their pension saving decisions. People less willing to delay the receipt of income were both more likely to leave a workplace pension and less likely to join one. The results emphasise that pension saving is not just about financial incentives but also about how the benefits of saving are perceived.” CIPP comment The CIPP fully supports any initiative to encourage employees to save for retirement, however the question has to be asked as to who would be responsible for creating and distributing these ‘regular statements’? Employers do not need any additional administrative burdens so could the pension provider provide the statements? There would still have to be some communication with the employer as the provider would not know if an employee was still with the same employer? If this initiative is realised, we hope that there will be full and thorough consultation on the detail, which the CIPP will of course ensure they are involved in.

Who will help the firms caught in the automatic enrolment capacity crunch?

31 January 2014

The Pensions Regulator recommends employers should allow at least six months to prepare for automatic enrolment but we’re only a couple of months away from a predicted pensions ‘capacity crunch’.

Plansponsor share some insights:

So are advisers stepping up to the plate to help smaller employers? Will smaller employers just opt for a multi-employer scheme so advice isn’t really needed? Or does the possible introduction of a charge cap next year mean getting advice is more important than ever? While to some the term capacity crunch may sound like a breakfast cereal, its implications are very serious for employers without the relationships or money to employ a traditional pensions consultant. So are the likes of independent financial advisers and accountants – who small companies claim they will rely on for auto-enrolment help – stepping up to the plate? This week saw the publication of a report from master trust NOW Pensions, claiming 55% of IFAs, who are either currently advising or intend to advise on auto-enrolment, are concerned about their ability to service the increasing volume of SMEs that will be seeking guidance in 2014, while 21% of IFA firms plan to take on new staff.

But PLANSPONSOR UK also revealed this week while IFAs may be planning to recruit new staff, this hiring boom has failed to materialise thus far.