Our quarterly updates normally follow a fairly consistent recipe: the majority of ingredients being articles dealing with events that have been served up over the past three months, complemented by items looking ahead to future events that (k)need to be prepared ahead of time, with the finishing garnish being a Coming Up Next article, that blends together in a concentrated form the pensions matters that will be rising in the longer term. (You might be able to tell that this writer is quite pleased the Great British Bake Off has returned!)
However, the mix for this quarter’s update has being more generously weighed towards the plethora of changes that have come into force on 1 October, such as The Pension Regulator’s new powers to prosecute those who put saver’s benefits at risk, new requirements for investment reporting and chair statements. So, while this report will look back to the last quarter as always, it felt right that a particular focus was placed on the October changes and the actions that trustees and employers alike need to be mindful of in the coming months.
It must be stressed that while it might be easy to dismiss some of the requirements as not being applicable to many schemes right now – such as the ESG reporting for schemes with over £5 billion in assets – we have to avoid such complacency. While requirements may seem remote, trustees and employers from all sizes of scheme, should at the very least be asking themselves, “Would we be able to meet that criteria?”.
While weighing up those questions and preparing those reporting ingredients, it’s important not to take your eye off the other bits and pieces that are also in the oven. So, as well as the October additions to the pensions menu, our report this quarter also serves up:
- A discussion on the end of furlough and what it means for scheme governance;
- The change in the retirement age from 55 to 57;
- A reminder on preparation for the new Single Code, and;
- An update on GMP Equalisation, 3 years on from the Lloyds Judgment.
From everyone at Spence, we hope you continue to stay safe and enjoy the read.
Click on the image on the right to view the report or click here.