The Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA) has elected Stewart Hastie to be its new chair. He is a senior partner at Isio and takes over from LCP’s Steven Taylor.
Hastie, who starts this two year term role on 1 June, set out the ACA’s policy priorities over this tenure.
“The ACA’s overall goal is to help deliver a sustainable and equitable long-term workplace savings environment: bringing responsible stewardship of pension schemes and promoting joined up policies that help future generations build adequate pensions and savings.”
He adds: “We recently launched the ACA’s own Pensions and Savings manifesto, which spells out our recommendations to the political parties on where they should head with any future reforms once several key policies – which appear to have broad all-party support, are completed. It must be a priority to complete these without any further delay.”
Hastie added: “I couldn’t have picked a more interesting time to take on this role. Actuaries have a big contribution to make when it comes to dealing with the savings adequacy crisis, which I think is the defining challenge of our generation.
“The balance of actuarial pensions work in recent years has been about protecting past benefits. With DB schemes now in a good position and well-funded in the main, actuaries have an important role to play in helping organisations shape future pensions provision to deliver better and more equitable outcomes for their workers and savers. I’m looking forward to working closely with our industry partners as we move into a new era of UK pensions.”
He said the ACA manifesto recognises the DWP’s research that suggests some 12.5 million working age people are under saving for retirement.
As a result it continues to support a phased stepping up of auto-enrolment minimum contributions.
He added that the ACA was also calling for the DWP to press forward with plans that would allow employers to use surpluses in DB schemes to meet the costs of higher levels of pensions contribution for today’s workers.
Hastie says other policy asks include finalising the new DB funding code and bringing forward legislation on CDC and other forms of risk-sharing pension schemes.
He adds: “We would also like to see longer-term planning around how employee engagement within DC schemes can be improved, including introduction of the ‘sidecar’ savings facility and making it easier for employers to make available greater support for employees and members.
“It is also our collective responsibility to understand and reduce the gender and ethnicity pension gaps.
“There are also a few things that we see as potentially counter to addressing the savings adequacy objective: the political temptation of a new government to find ‘new money’ through changes to pensions tax, and proceeding with new initiatives that would weaken the employer/employee link such as the ‘pot for life’ model and a public sector consolidator that isn’t limited just to those schemes that have no other options.
“And lastly, we support wider calls for better social care; that nettle needs to be grasped by whoever ends up in power, and we need to work together to find cross-party support for a long-term plan.”