Whilst the heat wave may have had many wanting to slow down this week, there has been no sign of any slowing on pensions progress, with a number of key regulatory and industry announcements made over the past five days.

In particular, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched a consultation on its plans to allow firms to offer targeted support and provide suggestions to groups of consumers with common characteristics, in what has been hailed as a "once-in-a-generation" advice change.

Industry experts welcomed the "game-changer" plans and the chance to provide further feedback, with some cautioning that there are still outstanding issues that will need to be addressed to ensure targeted support doesn’t fall at the last hurdle.

In addition to this, the Institute for Fiscal Studies' (IFS) shared its final report following its pension review, urging the government to take "decisive" action to address the "serious challenges" facing the UK pension system and "substantial risks" to the finances of future generations of pensioners.

This was not the only area that the government has been asked to give focus to, as the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) urged the government to explicitly examine how workplace pension changes impact small employers, amid concerns that further pension reforms could see small firms raise prices, cut jobs, or slash profits.

Changes have also been seen in the pensions sector itself, as the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) announced that it was rebranding as Pensions UK, as it launched an "ambitious" new strategy outlining its plans for the next decade and beyond.

In addition to this, Pan-European savings and retirement services group Athora Holding Limited announced that it has agreed to acquire Pension Insurance Corporation Group, the parent company of Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC), for £5.7bn.

European life and pensions consolidator, Chesnara, also announced that it has agreed to acquire HSBC Life (UK) from HSBC Bank plc for a total consideration of £260m

PensionPay, new fintech platform enabling members to access their pension savings through a debit card or digital wallet with an app interface, was also launched in response to concerns that there is a gap between how pensions are administered and how people actually live.

Aegon also announced that it will introduce pension tracing and consolidation services for its master trust clients, describing this as a "significant milestone" in its ongoing collaboration with The Pension Lab.

In addition to this, The Pensions Regulator (TPR) announced plans to launch a Pensions Data and Digital Working Group, describing it as a cross-sector initiative to bring pensions into the digital, data and technology age.

Activity in the bulk purchase annuity market has also continued, as the Molins UK Pension Fund completed a £249m buy-in deal with Aviva, securing the benefits of over 3,500 members of the scheme

And more opportunity in the BPA space could be seen in future, as analysis from Aon revealed that the BPA market is seeing its best pricing for over two years.

This week also saw the winners of the 18th annual European Pensions Awards revealed at the much-anticipated annual gala dinner at the prestigious London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square. Congratulations again to all of the winners!

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