Nine out of 10, 90 per cent, of pension schemes are in favour of dashboards, with a view that it is beneficial for the development of the industry and consumers alike, ITM has found.

At its first Dashboards Forum, ITM learned that while schemes are positive about the introduction of dashboards, a number of challenges need to be overcome. A total of 35 per cent of respondents thought data protection issues and 20 per cent highlighted that system access need to be addressed.

The forum included members of the HM Treasury Pensions Dashboard steering group: The Pensions Regulator’s non-executive director Margaret Snowdon OBE and LV= head of portals and integration Jon Pocock. During the discussions, attendees presented questions regarding the level of requirements for scheme preparation, the amount of data required for effective, functioning dashboards and the need to engage scheme sponsors and trustees.

In addition, delegates also asked for more engagement with schemes, “given that entitlements across the occupational pension sector represent a significant proportion of the pension pot universe,” ITM noted.

ITM executive chairman Duncan Howorth: “We were delighted with the interest and interaction at our first forum event. After all, the dashboards will rely entirely on the cooperation of all of the industry, if it is to succeed.

“It’s great news that the government has now given the dashboards the green light but, going forward, continuing momentum is needed between government and dashboards developers to keep schemes engaged. In our view, one way to do this would be to create a ‘working pilot’, produced by the industry.

“We also welcome the recommendation given to government to create legislation around data standards for the dashboards. Our view is that this compulsion should be carried out in phases, to allow for the different data complexities between defined contribution and defined benefit schemes.”

Pocock said: “It’s vital that we keep the industry engaged with the dashboards throughout its development. The feedback and insight from schemes at the ITM forum will be genuinely valuable as we address crucial challenges in shaping the dashboards.”

While the project has support from the industry, a considerable amount of work is yet to be completed. Analysis by ITM earlier this year on the quality of existing pensions data found that the majority of schemes and providers are missing crucial customer data that will be required if and when the dashboard is launched.

Share Story: