Commenting on the Pensions Investment Review: Call for Evidence, Calum Cooper, Head of Pension Policy Innovation, says:

“We welcome the Government’s consultation on the Pensions Investment review and the call for evidence with a focus on DC workplace schemes and the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). Given DC workplace schemes and the LGPS are important parts of the UK’s retirement savings environment, it is reassuring that the Government is seeking information and solutions from the pensions industry, and wider, to ensure it can deliver its policy objectives most effectively. We are particularly glad to see that the government focussing on investment returns net of fees, as opposed to costs. This is important as unlisted equity and infrastructure investment costs, an area the Government are keen for DC and LGPS funds to invest in, are often higher.

“We recognise that there are significant opportunities for the government to help the industry to improve outcomes for DC pension savers. For example, leveraging the increasing scale of today’s DC schemes to access new investment opportunities, and enabling more sophisticated default retirement propositions to be introduced. With already an enviable track record in delivering fantastic saver outcomes and strong investment returns net of fees, we also look forward to helping the LGPS and government identify how to continue this success and contribute to boosting UK growth. To do this will require action from the LGPS but also support and input from the Government to identify the most effective vehicles and investments.”