PMI and SPP call for improved Pension Schemes Bill

The Pensions Management Institute (PMI) and the Society of Pension Professionals (SPP) have today issued a united call for improvements to the Pension Schemes Bill. 

They have warned that some provisions in the bill risk undermining trustee independence, distorting investment strategy, and eroding member confidence.

Both organisations said they support the bill’s wider aims, but hold a shared concern for suggested provisions allowing Government to mandate pension scheme investments. The PMI and the SPP said they believe that such powers represent a fundamental shift in the UK pensions framework.

Sophia Singleton, president of the SPP, said: “The mandation power will have a negative effect on market pricing and could undermine public trust given scheme members or those thinking of saving in a pension may worry that saver returns are no longer the main priority.”

She said trustees must retain the autonomy to act in members’ best interests, informed by pension scheme-specific circumstances, not political imperatives.

Helen Forrest Hall, chief strategy officer at the PMI, said: “The PMI supports the principle that scale can deliver better outcomes for members but this power sets a troubling precedent for political interference in trustees’ fiduciary duties, undermines long-term investment planning, and risks distorting markets.

“We would argue that this provision has no place in this bill and should be removed. If it remains, additional safeguards, such as safe harbours, clear exemptions, notice periods and transitional protections need to be placed on the face of the bill.”

The pair are giving evidence to parliament’s Pension Schemes Bill Committee this afternoon at 2.30pm.