The Pensions Management Institute (PMI) has unveiled a major programme of improvements to its qualifications framework, aimed at driving up professional standards and equipping the industry to navigate an increasingly complex pensions landscape.

The initiative is designed to ensure that pensions professionals gain the skills needed to deliver better outcomes amid growing regulatory scrutiny and significant legislative change affecting both defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) schemes.

The improvements include modernising how qualifications are assessed, increasing the number of yearly opportunities to sit exams, and launching a new independent training academy to provide high-quality learning materials and greater support for students.

Announcing the move, PMI chief executive, Gareth Tancred, said the changes reflected the Institute’s "deep investment" in the future of pensions and its commitment to bridging the sector’s skills gap.

He emphasised that the reforms were not about making qualifications easier to achieve, but about modernising the learning journey to attract and prepare a new generation of pension professionals.

“In a rapidly evolving and more complex system, those running pension schemes are on the front line of creating better-run schemes that deliver good saver outcomes,” Tancred continued.

“This is not about making it easier to gain our qualifications. This is about streamlining our learning journey to unlock a new wave of talent, ready to lead in a world where resilience and an ability to embrace financial sustainability, innovation and technology are fundamental.

We’ve listened to the government, the regulator and industry to introduce measures that will enhance our qualifications system, and ultimately better protect savers,” he added.

The Institute claimed the changes were already having an impact, with sittings for its Advanced Diploma in Retirement Provision up 39 per cent compared to the Spring 2025 exam session.

The PMI’s reforms come as The Pensions Regulator (TPR) continues to focus on raising professional standards across the sector.

Last month, TPR published new insights from its year-long engagement with 15 pension administrators, underlining the growing importance of high-quality administration in delivering good member outcomes.

The regulator has also set out how it is working with professional trustee firms to outline its expectations and drive greater consistency and governance across the market.

According to the PMI, these developments reinforce the need for an increasingly skilled and adaptable pensions workforce.

The Institute stressed that its updated qualifications framework will help meet that demand, supporting growth in the number of qualified pensions professionals at a time of regulatory reform, market consolidation and heightened expectations from both government and the regulator.

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