PLSA welcomes CMA investigation’s focus on fee and performance information for trustees
01 March 2018, Press Release
The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) has today responded to the release of the first working paper from the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) Investment Consultants Market Investigation - Information on fees and quality.
This working paper contains the CMA’s first analysis and emerging findings regarding the information available to pension trustees on the fees and quality of investment consultants and fiduciary managers.
In response to the working paper, Caroline Escott, Policy Lead: Investment and DB, Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, said:
“Workplace pension schemes have £2.2tn of assets under management in the UK1 and millions of savers rely upon these investments for a good income in retirement. Both defined benefit and defined contribution schemes are important customers for investment consultants, including fiduciary management; as good quality investment advice on areas such as asset allocation and manager selection can have a significant impact on both investment returns and the value of savers’ capital, it is vital that this market works effectively.
“Transparency is a cornerstone of any well-functioning market and we therefore welcome the CMA’s decision to focus on the quality of the fee and performance information provided to trustees. Trustees need to have access to data which is consistent, timely and comparable so they are better able to assess the quality and value for money they receive from their investment advisers.
“The PLSA has long campaigned for improved transparency and worked to support better pension fund governance, including our work as part of the FCA’s Institutional Disclosure Working Group. We look forward to consulting with a broad range of our members to feed in their views to the CMA’s work in this area and ensure a market that works in the best interests of pension savers.”
-ENDS-
NOTES TO EDITORS
PRESS CONTACTS
Lee Blackwell, Head of Media and PR, Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association
T: 020 7601 1726, M: 07713 073023, E: [email protected]
Kathryn Mortimer, Press Officer, Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association
T: 020 7601 1748, M: 07901 007713, E: [email protected]
Eleanor Carric, PR Manager, Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association
T: 020 7601 1718, M: 07825 171 446, E: mailto:[email protected]
ABOUT THE PENSIONS AND LIFETIME SAVINGS ASSOCIATION
We’re the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association; the national association with a ninety year history of helping pension professionals run better pension schemes. Our members include over 1,300 pension schemes with 20 million members and £1 trillion in assets, and over 400 businesses. They make us the voice for pensions and lifetime savings in Westminster, Whitehall and Brussels.
Our purpose is simple: to help everyone to achieve a better income in retirement. We work to get more money into retirement savings, to get more value out of those savings and to build the confidence and understanding of savers.