Transparent pensions.
I reported the other day on the fact that the world’s first transparency strategy summit was taking place at the House of Commons, organised by the Transparency Task Force.
The event went ahead as planned on Monday, and was attended by some key players in the UK pensions industry, including the Financial Conduct Authority and the Investment Association.
For a summary of what happened, and what happens next, I can highly recommend this article by my TTF colleague Henry Tapper, on his blog, Pension PlayPen.
In it he makes the point that hidden charges are as harmful to our finances as illegal drugs are to our health. Here’s an extract:
Imagine that you were tasked to prevent drugs coming into this country. Would you
- ask the driver if he had drugs in his vehicle and wave him through if he told you “no”;
- set up a random search mechanism to show you were trying; or
- instigate a robust process that ensured that all vehicles entering the country were checked with deterrents of imprisonment for those found with narcotics?
Of course, as Henry says, the answer to that question would depend on how much you wanted to stop the drugs traffic. Rest assured, we in the Task Force are very keen to put a stop to hidden charges, and I sense an increasing appetite for change in the political sphere and the media.
But the big question remains: Is the industry willing to reform itself? Or will it resist it to the last? The jury’s out.
Related posts:
Pension PlayPen: Where next for pensions transparency?
Robin is a journalist and campaigner for positive change in global investing. He runs Regis Media, a niche provider of content marketing for financial advice firms with an evidence-based investment philosophy. He also works as a consultant to other disruptive firms in the investing sector.
