Pension charges to be made clearer to UK savers

The UK’s leading pension providers, members of the Association of British Insurers, have announced an agreement to ensure the consistent and straightforward disclosure of pension charges and costs to employees in workplace pension schemes.

Jamie Fiveash, Director of Customer Solutions at B&CE, provider of The People’s Pension, comments on the Agreement of Charges Disclosure announcement from the ABI:

“As a provider of DC pensions, both trust and contract, to over 1.6 million individuals we fully support new ABI initiative.

“Currently, the methods of disclosure within the Annual Management Charge vary slightly across providers and scheme types. This makes comparison difficult and causes confusion for consumers.

“Due to the bad publicity over the years, there also remains a public perception that providers are ‘hiding something’. Improving disclosure and transparency so there is a common method of disclosure will begin to remove these myths and improve confidence.

“This won’t be easy, as the definition of ‘what’s in a charge’ is not always straightforward. Other countries have taken years to move to a common method of disclosure. We look forward to giving the ABI our full support and assistance.”

Read the full story