Pensions dashboards will revolutionise the pensions industry, dragging it into the 21st century
Pensions dashboards are coming and will revolutionise the pensions industry, dragging it into the 21st century. They will change the way people interact with their pensions and, importantly, reconnect people with around £20 billion lost pots. It’s an initiative whose time has come and it is more important than ever as we look to get more people saving more and making better use of their retirement savings.
I was delighted to have a recent conversation (over Zoom, of course) with Chris Curry, Dashboard Principal at the Money and Pensions Service (MAPS), about progress to date from the Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) team and what’s in store for the programme this year. You can watch that chat here. Thanks, Chris, for taking the time to take part in our webinar series!
What struck me from that conversation was how far Chris and his team have come in a relatively short time and the huge juggling act they’ve had to play in kicking off and quickly scaling the programme to meet ambitious delivery times. I blogged in Professional Pensions that it was time to ‘raise a glass’ to progress so far and the latest updates just show how much is done and the ramping up of the programme.
Love them or hate them, pension dashboards are coming, and the industry will need to be ready to embrace providing data to dashboards when the time comes (which will be compelled by law) and also the potential for enhancing member experience and engagement that dashboards bring. It’s an exciting time for the project and this year will see a ramping-up of the procurement exercise and more details emerging about who will stage and when. It really feels like we are getting somewhere now, so what do we need to do to keep the momentum and ensure this first stage of the programme is a success? Here are my three key steps:
So the programme is now in full flow. And while there will certainly be some bumps along the road, real progress is now being made and I’m certainly genuinely excited by the potential dashboards can bring. Hopefully, Chris will do another Smart Pension Connect webinar later in the year, when he’ll have some good news to report on how the programme is progressing and is on track to deliver the future of pensions.
Launched in 2015, Smart Pension exceeds £5bn in assets under management (AUM) and now serves over one million members and more than 70,000 employers. It is powered by Keystone, Smart’s global savings and investments technology platform.
Aquiline Capital Partners, Barclays, Chrysalis Investments, DWS Group, Fidelity International Strategic Ventures, J.P. Morgan, Legal & General Investment Management, Link Group and Natixis Investment Managers are all investors in Smart Pension.