The pensions industry is changing; regulation, technology and disruptors are all influencing the challenging yet opportunistic environment the industry is in. Our joint data seminar, with ITM, looked at where the industry is heading and what the industry can learn from the past.

Anna Copestake praised The Pensions Regulator for encouraging schemes to go in the right direction when it comes to data. She noted that when you think about data, you should focus on getting back to basics – it’s about paying the right people, the right benefits at the right times.

Anna commented: “From my perspective, it’s not just about data. Data is the bedrock, but it’s about what can you check that data against? There’s another half of that story…ultimately it’s against what’s in the scheme documentation to work out what the member requirement is. It is the core trustee legal duty to administer the scheme as set out in the legal documentation.”

Anna also did not shy away from the fact that the pensions industry might be falling short, but pointed out there are rewards for those who face the issue, when it comes to managing the process of risk transfer to insurance or perhaps to a consolidator, as well as in ongoing scheme administration.

Anna further explained that scheme documentation may be confusing, or missing, but it’s still worth trying because there are lots of things that can be done to improve the level of confidence.

Read Anna Copestake’s comment in Pensions Age here.