Speaking at the CA Summit today, he said new regulations within the DC code due next year would put increased pressure on such structures, as boards of trustees will have to have a chair who will be responsible for signing off on governance and that master trusts will be required to a have a minimum number of trustees, the majority of whom must be independent of the service providers. Members’ views will also need to be represented on the board.
He warned that record keeping was not good enough and that the revamped code will require trustees to prescribe that administration systems worked correctly. He was disappointed that only 15,000 of the UK’s 130,000 trustees had done the trustee toolkit even though TPR has refreshed the website to ensure it is better targeted.
On charges, Warwick-Thompson confirmed that AMDs would be banned by 2016 but did not know whether there would be mandatory disclosure of the cost of charges across the market.
In response to a question from Henry Tapper of First Actuarial about the required level of professionalism of advisers operating in the workplace pensions market, Warwick Thompson said: “We are working with the FCA to clarify the position. The FCA regulates advice. How employers go through the process is not regulated.”
Tapper tweeted: “It’s essential we have consistency across the market on charges.”
