LifeSight’s drawdown facility has hit over £1bn in assets, with 7,500 members choosing to access this option since retirement.
In total the LifeSight master trust has over £24bn in assets under management and 430,000 members. The majority are under retirement age, but as the DC industry matures more members are reaching retirement.
The recent Government Pension Schemes Bill includes provisions that require DC pension schemes to provide a default retirement option for members. LifeSight anticipates that this ‘guided retirement’ requirement will drive further innovation in the sector, providing more tailored retirement solutions for members in the coming years.
Jelena Croad, head of LifeSight UK says: “We are proud that thousands of our members have proactively chosen to stay with LifeSight as they reach retirement and move their pension pots into a dedicated flexible drawdown facility. It is a testament to the trust and confidence our members have in us, and we are dedicated to continuing to innovate and provide the best possible retirement solutions for our members.
“In the past, many of our members transferred their LifeSight DC pot back into their employer’s DB scheme and used it for their tax-free cash lump sum. Over time, the number of members with legacy DB is falling and we’re seeing ‘generation DC’ start to retire.”
She adds: “The Government’s new ‘guided retirement’ provisions are a positive step towards ensuring that all members have access to suitable retirement options.
“The industry is already making positive changes in this space, with options like guided drawdown and later life annuities coming to the fore. We expect decumulation CDC to also be an attractive option. We’re speaking to our members and focusing on innovation as we prepare for the new guided retirement provisions to come into effect.”