Occupational pensions will be put at an unfair disadvantage unless authorised master trusts that partner with authorised Pensions Dashboard Services (PDS) are allowed to receive dashboard data, warns National Pensions Trust (NPT).
The master trust provider says the current proposed approach of only allowing data to be exported from the PDS to the individual, or a regulated entity that also offers a PDS as part of the same group may create a two-tier system, distort competition, with the potential for consumer harm.
NPT wants users to be able to export data into tools and calculators offered by authorised master trusts where they partner with a PDS, in the same way that FCA-regulated partner organisations are allowed to. It argues many master trust customers are familiar with the trust’s tools, and not allowing them to export data to them creates unnecessary obstacles to improving member understanding and engagement. NPT says it would like to see export of data from the PDS allowed to certain occupational pension schemes where they use the services of a regulated PDS through a third party.
NPT is also calling for proposed value for money assessments to also be applied to FCA-regulated retail consolidators in phase one of any new regulation, not phase two as proposed in the consultation paper.
Paul Armitage, head of the National Pensions Trust, says: “Dashboards will change the way people interact with their pensions. They are a force for good, but robust regulation is needed to ensure they are a success. The FCA’s consultation on the rules for dashboard providers gets us most of the way there, but risks creating unintended consequences in how occupational schemes can best help and support their members, with the potential for consumer harm as a result.
“Given the tools and calculators offered by occupational pension schemes, we would like to see export of data from the Pensions Dashboard Service (PDS) allowed to occupational schemes authorised by The Pensions Regulator where they use the services of a regulated PDS through a third party, as would be the case for an FCA regulated entity that is also offering a PDS.
“Many pension savers have a strong connection with their occupational pension scheme and use tools, calculators and financial wellbeing services supplied free of charge by their scheme to help them plan. Not allowing members to export data into these tools and calculators risks undermining what we are trying to achieve in helping savers plan for their retirement and, in our view, is a missed opportunity in the construct of the dashboard regulatory environment.”
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