| 'Golden opportunity missed' - NAPF on pensions green paper |
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| 01/04/2003 | |
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The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has said the government's green paper on pensions, although containing some welcome measures, has missed a "golden opportunity" to simplify the pensions landscape and boost future retirement saving. In its response to the Department of Work & Pensions (DWP) green paper, which was published in December last year, NAPF said it welcomed measures to simplify the running of workplace pension schemes. But the proposals would, it warned, do nothing to boost public confidence in pensions by simplifying the already complex state pension system. NAPF added that the measures would not offer incentives to save, either to pension scheme members or employers who provide them. With growing numbers of employers closing their final salary pension schemes to new members, the green paper proposals will not reverse this trend, and are unlikely even to halt it, said NAPF, which represents about a quarter of the UK's institutional investment community. "Any simplification of the pensions landscape is welcome, and the green paper provides a number of positive and practical proposals to ease the administrative burden on employers with workplace pensions," NAPF chairman, Peter Thompson, said. "But the proposals are too narrowly focused. They fail to address the problem of complexity in the state pension system, which is a critical barrier to building public understanding of, and confidence in, pensions. They also offer no boost to incentives to save through a pension." Peter Thompson called for a "root and branch review" of pensions coverage in the UK. The Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT) praised the green paper's simplification of the pension system in the UK, but also urged the government to press for a clearing house for the purchase of annuities and the idea of limited insurance of pension schemes' liabilities to members. A study by the Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA) said over 70 per cent of final salary schemes were now closed to new employees. |
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