It’s going to be a busy couple of months. We are expecting the government’s response to the Pensions Investment Review consultation, a further announcement on plans for defined benefit (DB) surplus and the introduction of the Pensions Bill.

There are also numerous pensions policy and regulatory changes on the horizon.

Some are already being implemented (dashboards), some under consultation (changes to inheritance tax and normal minimum pension age) others form part of the Pensions Bill (the value for money framework, small pots, guided retirement) and others are still being considered (defined contribution consolidation, productive finance, DB surplus).

Whilst the objectives behind many of these proposals are laudable, the ambition is large and the proposed timescales relatively short given the size of the changes proposed.

It is important the changes work together as a whole, avoiding any unintended consequences. Sequencing will be vital to ensure the changes are coherent and deliverable.

The starting point for all of this needs to be the impact on the saver, in particular how we avoid creating confusion and/or bombarding them with potentially conflicting communications over a short period of time.

We look forward to scrutinising the government’spromised pension reform roadmap.

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