Pensions Weekly Update – 18 January 2023

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Here is our weekly summary of key legal and regulatory developments relevant to occupational pension schemes that you might have missed, with links for further information.

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has issued a guidance statement for pension trustees and their advisers around how schemes should communicate with, and support, defined contribution (DC) savers. TPR notes that many DC savers will be in lifestyling default arrangements, where allocation to bonds is higher, the closer that the member gets to retirement age. This means that some savers might have seen a greater fall in the value of their savings than others did. TPR says that it is important that those savers close to retirement are supported to understand the implications and cautioned against making hasty decisions, as this might lead to poorer outcomes and in some cases leave them open to scammers. The guidance statement sets out TPR’s expectations and contains a checklist to help trustees review their governance investment arrangements.
The Pensions Administration Standards Association has issued Master Trust Pensions Dashboards Guidance that builds on its existing dashboards guidance and addresses specific issues facing master trusts, due to their unique structure.
TPR has updated its guidance on dealing with transfer requests to make clear that members need to seek pensions safeguarding guidance, rather than general MoneyHelper guidance or over-50s Pensions Wise guidance. The guidance contains a weblink for trustees to provide to members, so that members can book safeguarding guidance. The link is not searchable on the MoneyHelper website.
It is not too late to register for an in-person morning seminar being held in our Birmingham office on Thursday 19 January 2023, which we are holding with Broadstone. We will be focusing on environmental, social and governance for pension trustees, effective systems of governance (new single code of practice) and the new defined benefit funding regulations and implications.

If you would like specific advice on any of these issues, or on anything else, please contact a member of our Pensions team.