Industry experts, including professional trustee firms and associations, have been quick to welcome the news that The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is planning to extend its oversight to include professional trustee firms.

TPR chief executive, Nausicaa Delfas, confirmed today (2 April) that the regulator is looking to roll out a formal framework for professional trustee firms as part of its work to help identify and mitigate risks to pension savers.

Independent Governance Group CEO, Andrew Bradshaw, welcomed the news that TPR intends to formally roll out a framework for the oversight of professional trustee firms, emphasising that "professional trustees play a critical role in ensuring the good governance of schemes".

"As an industry, we govern in excess of £1trn of assets and so it is right that we are held to a high bar and keep striving to raise the standards of trusteeship and governance, which better serves pension savers and ensures their needs are met," he continued.

“TPR has rightly identified particular areas for the industry that it would like to focus on and we look forward to working with them on the extent to which such risks exist and how they can be both managed and mitigated.

"We are particularly keen to work with TPR to ensure that the practical application of the framework works alongside its other stated objective of encouraging innovation in the market, which is key to meeting many of the government's, and savers’, objectives.”

Adding to this, Association of Professional Pension Trustees (APPT) chair, Rachel Croft, said: "APPT welcomes TPR's announcement on the regulation of professional trustee firms and looks forward to continuing to engage with TPR on this important topic, in the interests of enhancing governance standards for members and all stakeholders."

Dalriada Trustees managing director, Adrian Kennett, also stressed the need for high standards, stating: "We believe beneficiaries of pension schemes deserve the highest standards of governance, risk management and expertise and professional trustees should be at the forefront of this.

“We welcome the oversight that will be provided by TPR to drive up those standards right across the professional trusteeship market and to ensure best practice is adhered to.

"Highly skilled trustees with diverse backgrounds working within teams using robust processes can provide breadth and depth of experience across many pension disciplines. This ensures absolute focus on enhancing member outcomes."

RSM UK partner and head of pensions, Ian Bell, also welcomed the news from TPR, arguing that it was a "long overdue" announcement.

However, Bell argued that clearer ethical guidelines are needed, stating: “As part of this review, I would expect TPR to present trustees with clearer ethical guidelines, which may be similar to those that we have in the audit profession, designed to ensure that independence is always considered as part of any services provided.

"This is essential to ensure that trust is preserved as an increasingly key aspect of the pensions industry.”

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