David Hare, Immediate Past President of the IFoA, comments on the release of the IPB review 'Defined contribution workplace pensions'

David Hare, Immediate Past President of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) and a member of the Independent Project Board (IPB), comments on the release of the IPB review Defined contribution workplace pensions: The audit of charges and benefits in legacy schemes

“As the UK’s professional body for actuaries, who play an important role in the delivery of DC schemes, the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries welcomes the audit by the Independent Project Board (IPB) on defined contribution workplace pensions.  As the pensions landscape evolves, increasing numbers of our members work in this area and our professional expertise has provided significant value to this crucial project.  The work of the IPB contributes to a process of transparent review of such schemes which is a positive step.  There was a large amount of work involved in drawing conclusions from the masses of data collected and the IFoA was happy to contribute to the IPB in this respect. 

The IPB was created to oversee this audit of “at risk” schemes which are administered by Association of British Insurers (ABI) members that were identified by the Office for Fair Trading (OFT).  The 2013 OFT study on pension schemes took place as a result of the Government’s introduction of auto-enrolment in workplace pensions.

“As a not-for-profit professional membership body in financial services with a regulatory role, the IFoA is happy to support this work.  It is important customers receive value for money from their pension products and this review is an important contribution to achieving this objective.”

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A copy of the IPB press statement can be accessed here and a copy of the full report can be accessed here.