Concerns around pensions adequacy have continued as the industry awaits the second phase of the government's pension review, although Pensions Minister, Torsten Bell, has again hit back at claims that this work has been delayed.

Work to encourage pension funds to boost their private market investments has continued as the industry awaits the final report from the government's Pension Investment Review, with 17 pension providers recently backing the new Mansion House Accord.

As part of this, the signatories committed to investing at least 10 per cent of their defined contribution (DC) default funds in private markets by 2030, with 5 per cent of the total allocated to the UK.

Whilst the news was welcomed by many, industry experts have stressed the need for the government to ensure that the appropriate pipeline is in place in order for the signatories to meet these commitments.

This was not the only area of concern, as XPS Group senior investment consultant, Mark Searle, argued that adequacy issues will also need to be addressed in order to genuinely improve retirement outcomes.

"To really drive improvements in member outcomes, we think savings adequacy needs to be addressed and we’re hoping to see comment on the balance between short and long-term savings get addressed in the second stage of the government’s pension review, " he said.

This was echoed by Barnett Waddingham partner and head of DC investment, Sonia Kataora, who argued that "what we cannot afford to lose with this new development is a diligent focus on member outcomes".

"We are already hurtling towards a retirement crisis, with low contribution rates and a lack of realistic financial planning - savers simply cannot afford underwhelming returns on top of that," she said.

Industry experts previously expressed disappointment at reports that the second phase of the pension review, focused on adequacy, had been delayed, with investment issues becoming the main focus.

However, speaking to Pensions Age, Pensions Minister, Torsten Bell, once again refuted recent claims that the second phase of the review had been postponed, branding the suggestion that this issue had been kicked into the long grass as "nonsense".

"We will be moving swiftly," he said, confirming that "we will be publishing a Pension Schemes Bill before the summer, which will be a very substantial bill making a lot of progress in resetting the pensions landscape".

"And then shortly after that we'll be aiming to launch Phase 2," he said.

However, Bell suggested that broader changes will not be seen ahead of this.

In particular, when asked whether the government would be looking to take forward the Private Members Bill to extend auto-enrolment to lower earners and younger workers, which gained Royal Asset after passing through parliament in 2023, Bell stated: "I want to consider wider questions in the round about the future of the pension system, and that's what Phase 2 is going to be doing."

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