The Pensions Regulator has published its fifth governance survey, reporting that the last year saw gains in a number of areas, though standards need to improve in some areas.

Announcing the results of the survey of nearly 600 schemes, TPR said that 96% of schemes believe their trustee boards are governing effectively overall.

Small schemes tended to be less confident, with 49% regarding their overall governance as very effective. In contrast, 61% of medium and 74% of large schemes regarded their governance as very effective.

Overall governance was considered to be very effective by 40% of defined contribution schemes, compared with 65% of defined benefit schemes.

Awareness of the Regulator’s record-keeping guidance rose to 74% from 48% in 2009, and 91% of schemes were aware of the Trustee Toolkit, up from 88% last year. Nine in 10 users said they found it useful.

The Regulator said communication to members remained a key area for potential improvement. Just 28% of schemes strongly agreed that trustee boards ensured a high standard of member communications, while 14% disagreed.

One in four DC schemes were unable to judge whether the charges incurred by members would represent value for money.

Executive director for DC, governance and administration at TPR June Mulroy said it was encouraging that awareness of the Regulator’s record-keeping guidance has improved, especially in light of its education drive earlier this year.

“As we have highlighted previously, levels of governance and understanding tend to be lower in smaller DC schemes. Good governance is particularly important given the risks that members carry in DC schemes such as investment performance, value for money and converting their pension pot into an income,” Mulroy said.

Access the survey here (pdf).

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