The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) must act as the “captain” of the industry to help create a “world class pension system”, PLSA chief executive Julian Mund has said.

Speaking at the PLSA Annual Conference 2019, Mund stated that “it is time that the PLSA becomes the captain of the pensions industry” to drive change and improvement.

He said: “It’s time to secure our savings... Our huge and complex pensions system has to be world class and we have to unite to support the future people want, with high quality schemes, that operate at low cost and provide value for money.”

Mund highlighted a number of changes that are required to create a robust pensions system and secure desired retirement outcomes for members. These include increasing automatic contributions from 8 per cent to 12 per cent, developing a strong funding regime for DB funds, “with a regulator that’s powerful enough to maintain it” and the further development of new models like superfunds to assist employers in providing pensions to their staff.

Amid the ongoing mastertrust authorisation process, Mund added: “Mastertrusts need supervision that supports their effectiveness.”

Further, Mund revealed that the association will be introducing its pioneering retirement living standards, as part of the information shared during the conference.

“For the first time, savers will be able to understand what their retirement lifestyle could cost and what their savings could buy them.Telling people about what their lifestyle could be like, rather than numbers will give them confidence, get them engaged in picturing the future they could really have.”

“We have to work to develop an architecture to help them [members] to understand their objectives, make difficult choices and find guidance on access and products,” he said.

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