PLSA set out its priorities for the next four years

The Policy Board of the UK trade body for pension funds, the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA), has agreed on a four-year plan to help everyone achieve better retirement incomes.

The PLSA has identified four key themes for 2019 to 2022; achieving well-run pension funds, encouraging effective engagement, supporting adequate contributions and addressing scale and consolidation. These themes encompass projects including the Cost Transparency Initiative, which is a partnership between the PLSA, the Investment Association and the LGPS Scheme Advisory Board aiming to improve transparency over costs and charges.

The Policy Board has formed four new sub-committees for eight to 10 members to help implement its programme, which represent defined benefit, defined contribution, local authority and master trust segments of the pension fund industry. The sub-committees will help inform PLSA consultation responses, sit on industry working groups and support the PLSA on policy positions to government, regulator and other external parties.

In addition, Expert Reference Groups have been set up to help develop PLSA policy positions. One aim of these groups is to bring more PLSA members into policy work and they will work in virtual form via email and survey.

PLSA Policy Board Chair, Emma Douglas, commented: “We have an ambitious policy agenda to ensure the UK regime for retirement savings delivers a better income for everyone. Drawing on the wide expertise of the PLSA’s Policy Board, we have identified four key priority topics: well-run schemes, effective engagement, adequate contributions, and addressing the challenges of consolidation – with some actions for Government and some for the industry. I am looking forward to pursuing these goals.”