People’s Pension has launched a new tool to help savers understand the long-term impact of pension transfers.

The Pension Consolidation Calculator enables savers to compare charges across different pensions, see long-term savings projections and understand how even slight percentage differences between charges affect retirement outcomes. This comes after research from People's Pension found that many savers only understand the impact of different charges when transferring pensions if presented with tangible examples, with 72 per cent of those who transferred a pension unaware of the fees associated with their new or old pension. The group has also called for greater collaboration from the pensions industry to allow people to compare their pensions based on the information that matters most. People's Pension CEO, Patrick Heath-Lay, said: “The pensions industry does nowhere near enough to help savers understand the impact of charges on their retirement pots when they are considering transferring...Urgent action is needed from the providers and regulators to help people make more informed decisions and to stop them from having to work for years longer before they can retire."

London CIV has launched a pension advisory and support service, LGPS PASS.

The investment pool for London Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds said that the new tool is designed to help reduce costs and strengthen long-term sustainability within the LGPS community, estimating that funds could see annual fee savings of up to 50 per cent envisioned for administrative authorities that adopt LGPS PASS. Solutions within the new offer have already been taken up by a quarter of London CIV’s Partner Funds, including the London Boroughs of Camden and Merton. Commenting on the launch, London CIV COE, Dean Bowden, said: “As part of our evolution as a community, this choice of solutions has been designed to fill current and future LGPS service gaps, as well as drive down costs. We have an excellent team in place, many of whom come from an LGPS-specific background, who have strong experience around the challenges LGPS Partner Funds face.”

The latest National Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Procurement Framework for Pensions Administration Software is now live.

This is the second iteration framework, which is designed to help the LGPS swiftly and easily access pensions administration software services from a variety of qualified providers to meet their local needs. Users of the framework benefit from all the usual advantages of using a National LGPS Framework including access to high-quality, value-for-money services, pre-agreed terms and conditions and supporting documentation. Commenting on the launch, Greater Manchester Pension Fund strategic lead, development and technologies, Georgia Ryan, said: "We hope that LGPS funds can now continue to easily and compliantly procure what is a complex set of products and services with the knowledge that the suppliers have been appropriately screened to ensure they can meet the needs of LGPS administration teams, their members and employers. As a group we have reviewed and appraised the specification of requirements for this framework to ensure that the systems and services being offered can keep up with both technological advancement and changing legislation."

---