• Almost two thirds (61%) of pension industry respondents believe that pension policy has been dissatisfactory over the last six months – up from 44% last year
• 44% of respondents are dissatisfied with TPR believing it has been too slow to respond to crises
• Over half (51%) of respondents’ trustee boards don’t have an Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion policy

The research reveals signification dissatisfaction amongst pension professionals over the actions of the Pensions Regulator in recent months. More than four in ten (44%) respondents are dissatisfied with the Pensions Regulator, highlighting factors including ‘significant delays’ in introducing pension policy, and claims that TPR has been ‘too slow to react’ to the LDI turmoil and cost of living crisis.

The survey of trustees, pension managers, and scheme administration attributed the increase in policy dissatisfaction to several factors including the fallout from the gilt crisis, concerns around the Pensions Dashboards, and perceived problems with the DB funding code. Nearly four in ten (39%) respondents are concerned with the proposed DB funding regulations including worries about the lack of flexibility for open schemes. Issues around encouraging group-think and the increased administrative burden on small schemes have also been raised.

Nearly half of the pension industry (48%) believe the Government deserves the blame for the LDI crisis and turmoil in the gilt markets. However, 27% think the blame for the crisis lies with investment consultants, fiduciary managers, and asset managers. A further 11% blame pension scheme trustees, and 10% blame the Bank of England. As a result of the crisis, 48% of respondents had to act to protect their scheme. This includes 15% of respondents who were forced into unplanned asset sales and 13% of respondents who reduced hedging ratios.

The research also found widespread support for the benefits of diversity amongst trustee boards, although only 28% of respondents think their scheme is diverse. Respondents believe that increased diversity on trustee boards would encourage reduced group thinking, better succession planning, wider experience, and a more accurate representation of the membership of the scheme. However, more than half (51%) of respondents said their trustee board did not have an ED&I policy.

Tim Middleton, Director of Policy and External Affairs, Pensions Management Institute, comments: “The last six months have been incredibly turbulent for the pensions industry. Many professionals have faced substantial challenges in dealing with the fallout of the LDI turmoil and the cost-of-living crisis. At the same time, new regulatory hurdles including the DB funding code and uncertainty over the implementation of Pensions Dashboards have caused disruption. Understandably, dealing with these problems as well as the substantial regulatory reforms have left many feeling frustrated at the current direction of pensions policy.”