The Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA) has renewed calls for minimum automatic enrolment (AE) contributions to be increased, while urging policymakers to take a longer-term approach to pensions policy.

Speaking at the ACA’s annual dinner at Claridge’s, marking the association’s 75th anniversary, ACA chair, Chintan Gandhi, argued that minimum AE contributions should rise, contributions should apply from the first pound of earnings and the minimum age threshold should be lowered.

Currently, the statutory minimum contribution under AE is 8 per cent of qualifying earnings, including at least 3 per cent from the employer, with qualifying earnings generally falling between £6,240 and £50,270 in 2026/27.

Eligible workers are automatically enrolled from age 22 if they earn at least £10,000 a year.

Gandhi said: “The ACA has long believed that minimum AE contributions should be increased, should be applied from the first pound of earnings, and from a lower minimum age threshold.”

He warned that future retirees would increasingly lack the security traditionally provided by defined benefit (DB) pensions, while many people were already not saving enough and would be required to shoulder more investment and longevity risk themselves.

Therefore, Gandhi argued that a stronger pensions system should not only be well designed and fair, but also one that people understand and trust as part of working life.

“To make saving for retirement an established norm – rather than a constant source of anxiety – we need to think harder about how we communicate, build confidence and make pensions relevant to people’s lives,” he said.

Gandhi also highlighted collective defined contribution (CDC) pensions as an area with further potential, arguing that they could give savers greater confidence that their pension savings will provide an income for life without requiring individuals to become investment or longevity experts.

The ACA has also called for DB surplus reforms to be implemented in a way that protects members while allowing surplus assets to support sponsoring employers, current workforces and the wider economy.

His comments come amid a wider debate over pension adequacy and the future of AE.

The government has kept the £10,000 AE earnings trigger and £6,240 lower qualifying earnings threshold unchanged for 2026/27 while the Pensions Commission considers longer-term reforms.

Gandhi added that, alongside decisions on contribution levels, CDC, DB surplus and the state pension, policymakers needed to look beyond short-term political cycles.

“After all, pensions are measured not in months or even parliamentary cycles, but in lifetimes," he said.

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