The pensions industry has "done things that have gone wrong," according to Arno Kitts, chairman of the National Association of Pension Funds' (NAPF) Investment Council.

In his closing remarks at the NAPF Investment conference, held at the EICC in Edinburgh on 13 March, Kitts addressed delegates and warned that the industry must be prepared to accept things that were before viewed as "unpalatable".

He urged trustees and delegates to question their pension funds and sponsors, and ask if they were doing everything that they were required to do and acknowledged the necessity for stronger regulation, and said that the current regulatory model is not good enough.

"Things need to be done," he said. "More measurement, transparency, more planning and stronger management. We need to look at small DB schemes more closely." He questioned whether these smaller final salary schemes can be kept going in the current climate.

Kitts also said consolidation must be encouraged at the tail end of the market, and added that in these "unprecedented" times, "public sector pensions have become the elephant in the room".

In remarks which echoed much of what was said at the conference, Kitts criticised the industry's tendency to bury its heads in the sand. If it continues to do this, he said. It does not "have the right to win [confidence] back".

Kitts urged delegates to get debates going and take action.

"Get stuck in. Step up, step out, step forward. This is a fertile time to create something new." Hopefully, he added, this will gain back the trust of the millions of people who rely on these pension provisions for their retirement income.

- Pensions Age March 2009

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