Now: Pensions, the master trust that was beset with administration problems that saw it fail to collect £18m of contributions, has received authorisation from The Pensions Regulator today.
Scottish Widows Master Trust also received authorisation today, along with Aspire Savings Trust, Punter Southall’s master trust, and The ITB Pension Funds
As well as its administrative problems, which saw Now: Pensions fail to collect contributions for some members for several years, the provider’s performance has consistently lagged behind all other providers in the sector. Its annualised performance over the five years to 30th June 2019, for growth phase investors 30 years from state pension age, is 4.02 per cent, compared to the Corporate Adviser Pensions Average (CAPA) of 9.37 per cent across all master trusts and GPPs in the sector, according to figures from Corporate Adviser to be published later this week.
Today’s authorisations bring the total number of authorised schemes to 31.
Now: Pensions non-executive chairman John Rowland says: “I have been a strong supporter of the concept of authorising Master Trusts since it was proposed in the Pensions Act 2017.
“With over 10 million people now having been automatically enrolled into workplace pensions and the majority of those in Master Trusts, we believe that the authorisation regime provides valuable reassurance to all employees who have been auto enrolled into a Master Trust by their employer.”
Now: Pensions chair of trustees Joanne Segars says: “I am thrilled that Now: Pensions has been authorised. The Master Trust Authorisation regime ensures high standards are upheld, giving workers enrolled into a workplace pension the confidence that their employers have chosen their pension provider wisely.
“We want workers to feel reassured that their hard-earned pension savings are being regulated and are in responsible hands. As the number of people enrolled is only set to rise, it is important that the industry is held accountable.”
Scottish Widows managing director of pensions & investments, and chair of the SWMT Strategist Committee Jeff Sayers says: “As auto-enrolment continues to have a positive impact on the nation’s saving, we are delighted to offer employers and employees the benefits of an authorised master trust. This sits alongside a full range of choices for workplace and individual customer needs, as they look to save for their financial future and retirement. Scottish Widows will continue to evolve our proposition, and work even harder towards delivering good outcomes for our members.”
Kim Nash, chair of Scottish Widows’ Master Trust, says: “Authorisation of the master trust market is a welcome step in raising governance standards across the market to secure better member outcomes.”
