Pensions: what's new this week - 15 May 2023

TPR refreshed guidance on employers in distress

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has published a blog post announcing refreshed guidance on dealing with employers in distress.

The blog post highlights recent economic turbulence and lower levels of resilience amongst employers. It asks trustees to remain vigilant to further economic challenges which may negatively impact the ability of sponsoring employers to support DB pension schemes. It emphasises the need to monitor employers’ financial positions closely and to take appropriate advice. TPR expects all trustees to have covenant monitoring in place as part of their integrated risk management framework and to engage with TPR at an early stage of any distress situation.

The refreshed guidance remains materially the same as the previous November 2020 version. The most significant change is that the guidance no longer says that schemes should send out the template letter on scams produced by TPR, the FCA and the Money and Pensions Service to all members requesting a transfer value quote (though TPR’s ‘warn members about pension scams’ web page still refers to the requirement to send this letter; we are seeking confirmation from TPR as to whether or not the template letter is still required). Otherwise, the update includes minor drafting changes and the removal of references to Covid-19 (the initial guidance focused on the impact of Covid-19, given its significance at the time; the guidance now refers to a broader range of risks for employers).

Read the blog post and updated guidance.

Dashboards update

The Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) has published a report on the progress made towards launching pensions dashboards since October 2022. The update follows the announcement in March that the deadlines for schemes to connect to the pensions dashboards architecture are being delayed and there will be a ‘reset’ of the programme. The report gives no further information on the revised timetable, repeating that there will be an update before Parliament’s summer recess. It does say that the programme is being replanned ‘at pace’. The PDP stresses that the industry should still be preparing for dashboards, and gives a list of steps that schemes should be taking; an update from TPR included in the report echoes this and highlights data as a key area of focus.

Read the report.

The Gender Pensions Gap: what it is and how to fix it – 23 May 2023

The Gender Pensions Gap – the difference between the pension incomes that men and women can expect at retirement – is estimated to be twice the size of the Gender Pay Gap. Why is that, and how can we close the gap? Join us at our office on Tuesday 23 May 2023 when we will be welcoming Legal & General Investment Management’s (LGIM) Stuart Murphy, Co-Head of DC, and Alexandra Miles, Senior DC strategist, to discuss the gap and what can be done to address it.

Sign up here.