Labour has promised to bring forward wide-ranging reforms of the £2tn private pensions industry in a review that aims “to boost investment, increase pension pots and tackle waste in the pensions system”.
A taskforce of industry executives and ministers from the Treasury and department of work and pensions will propose ways to cut costs and improve investment options, allowing retirement scheme managers to boost pension pots by up to £11,000.
The taskforce will also consider making it easier for pension funds to broaden their investment strategies to include a larger slice of UK businesses. The move follows the announcement of a pensions bill in the king’s speech this month, which critics said failed to signal an ambitious overhaul of the industry.
Rachel Reeves said the review is part of “a big bang of reforms” that includes a £7bn national wealth fund and planning reforms to unlock the UK’s potential growth. The chancellor added: “There is no time to waste. That is why I am determined to fix the foundations of our economy so we can rebuild Britain and improve people’s lives.”
With a first draft of the review expected before Reeves’s first budget in the autumn, new rules could be in place as soon as next year.
One aim of the taskforce is to pave the way for a merger of the 87 individual pension schemes in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) covering England and Wales. The scheme, which ranks as the seventh largest pension fund in the world, managing £360bn worth of assets, spends £2bn on fees, which could be reduced following a formal merger.
Pooling the assets in the LGPS would enable the funds to be invested in a wider range of UK assets.
The review will be led by pensions minister Emma Reynolds, who has a joint role across the DWP and the Treasury. Reynolds said: “As the first ever joint Treasury and DWP minister, I am uniquely placed to tackle the twin challenges of productive investment and retirement outcomes.
“Over the next few months the review will focus on identifying any further actions to drive investment that could be taken forward in the pension schemes bill, before then exploring long-term challenges to ensure our pensions system is fit for the future.”
Reynolds will aim to reverse a decades-old trend in which billions of pounds of UK savings have been invested abroad. The US stock market has surged fivefold over the past 30 years while shares on the London exchange have largely moved sideways. Fund managers have also sought to invest in fast-growing companies in the Far East to satisfy their commitments to UK pension savers.
Andrea Rossi, the chief executive of M&G, one of the UK’s largest fund managers, welcomed the review, saying it is long overdue. He said the firm has “a rich heritage of investing in the UK” and there are “significant opportunities ahead to give the real economy a boost over the next decade and beyond”.
Reeves said the government would consider legislating to mandate pooling LGPS assets if insufficient progress is made by March 2025.