Analysis of master trusts by consultancy Lane Clark & Peacock has highlighted improvements in the quality of service members are receiving and shows that providers are developing a range of solutions as decumulation options increase.
The report also claimed progress has been made in post-retirement, with providers introducing a range of approaches. Examples include developing a solution offering a sustainable income via drawdown in early retirement, followed by guaranteed income via an annuity later.
The report, which examines the main non-investment priorities for master trusts, covered pension providers managing more than £700bn of workplace pension assets across all arrangements, representing an estimated 85–90 per cent of the total market.
According to the survey, no provider offers a complete package when it comes to post-retirement, potentially due to the complexity of the issue and ongoing regulatory changes.
Service performance was also found to have improved since last year. On average, provider performance is strong across the metrics used – helpline answer times and completion time for tasks such as transfers and cash payments. While there is less variation between the best and worst providers compared to last year’s report, helpline answer times are more polarised, and some providers continued to struggle with volatility over the year as members reacted to market movements.
Other findings in the report include that across 2025, only half of the providers LCP receives data from have seen an increase in call volumes, despite growing memberships across the board. As provider solutions develop, members have access to more information about their pension through online accounts and Apps, and LCP anticipated a shift in how members are engaging with their provider.
Rachel Crowther, a partner in LCP’s DC team, says: “It’s good to see that there has been an improvement in service standards for members across the market. The most notable area of development in the market over the last year has been the evolution of decumulation options, and we encourage providers to further develop broader support solutions for members.”
The LCP report also observed that Government policy continues to encourage consolidation, reducing the number of providers and schemes to give greater scale, including the requirement for a minimum of £25bn in default strategies by 2030. Based on the data in the report, seven providers had over £25 billion in their default as of 31 December.