The pensions industry should take advantage of increased connectivity within society to improve member engagement and fiduciary/provider decision making, according to PTL MD, Richard Butcher.

Butcher urged the industry to recognise the “true impact” of increasing connectivity on the pension ecosystem to drive enhancements within the sector.

He pointed to the increase in internet access, which has risen from half a per cent to 93 per cent over the last 30 years, and expectations that data usage per phone per month will rise from 4GB to 98GB over the next four years.

“Greater connectivity means more data,” Butcher continued. “And with more data we should be able to make better decisions.

“Imagine the insight on member behaviours this could give us, both within and without of pension schemes; Facebook, Amazon and supermarkets are already on to this, helping them sell us more of what we are likely to buy.”

Increased connectivity gives the industry more opportunity to communicate with members, something that Butcher stated the industry does not do well.

He described the “potential” that personalisation has in making it easier to interact with members in a more timely, relevant and engaging fashion.

“Let’s stop delivering analogue communications digitally, lets, instead, start delivering truly digital comms; more push notifications, instant messaging and dynamic data sets,” Butcher added.

“Connectivity gives us the opportunity to do this. I accept this doesn’t come without its challenges such as increased cyber risk and indeed GDPR, but neither should be an unscalable wall in front of progress.

“They are challenges to be dealt with in the context of a drive to better member outcomes.”

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