If you like things to stay as they are, you are in the wrong industry. The pace of change in the corporate benefits space is getting faster and faster as the zero hour that is 2012 approaches to almost within touching distance.
Fundamental changes to the regulatory landscape are at critical stages, and in the coming weeks and months decisions of real significance will be made. The Nest charging structure has kicked off the debate about the switch away from level charging structures for pensions,and all that means in a post-RDR world. The FSA’s latest papers on the RDR should soon be with us, sadly just too late to be covered by the time this
issue went to press. And possibly the last Budget of the Labour government has piled even more complexity on the pensions system.
Meanwhile, providers, intermediaries and technology firms are trying to make sense of it all as they fight it out for different pieces of the value chain.
Whoever gets their business model right for the pre-Nest run-in, when employers have to actually do something about their pensions, stands to gain a lot
The prize is huge. Whoever gets their business model right for the pre-Nest run-in, when employers have to actually do something about their pensions, stands to gain a lot.
However, it is not all stress and angst. While the life and pensions industry copes with upheaval to a backing track of post-recession blues, growth springs up elsewhere. Cash plans are really starting to assert their presence and value, as described in the supplement attached to this issue. Formerly seen as the poor relation of PMI, their value to employers and advisers alike is on a counter-cyclical upward trajectory.
The industry is also expecting more positive news on age discrimination, as detailed in this issue, and the introduction of fit note can also be seen as supporting the health and wellbeing agenda being adopted by forward-thinking intermediaries. Change is what consultants thrive on, and there is plenty knocking around right now.
John Greenwood, Editor
john.greenwood@centaur.co.uk