PA Spring Conference: Pensions Minister rules out mandatory trustee accreditation for now

Pensions Minister, Paul Maynard, has revealed that the government is not planning to introduce mandatory accreditation for pension scheme trustees for the foreseeable future.

Addressing the Pensions Age Spring Conference 2024, Maynard stated that discussions with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) had indicated that voluntary registers and upskilling appeared to be the “best next step forward”.

“We’re not yet going down the mandatory path, I think that’s fair to say,” he said.

Maynard speculated that there may be a point in time, once the voluntary register and upskilling had “worked their way through the system”, that there may seem to be a need for a mandatory register.

However, he clarified that he did not think we were at that point yet.

“Equally, we are seeing more professional trustees emerging,” he continued.

“We need to keep an eye on it; there are positives and there are negatives. I would rather do stuff through goodwill on a voluntary basis first and foremost; we don’t need more regulation.”

There had previously been rumours that the government was considering introducing mandatory accreditation for pension trustees, with Maynard refusing to rule it out in a session with the Work and Pensions Committee in January.

However, following discussions with the FCA, it appears that the government will not be pursuing mandatory accreditation for now.

Later in the conference, The Pensions Regulator (TPR) director of regulatory policy, analysis and advice, Louise Davey, said that the regulator wanted to improve its understanding of the trustee landscape, and would therefore be introducing a trustee register “in time” to help it achieve this.



Share Story:

Recent Stories


Private markets – a growing presence within UK DC
Laura Blows discusses the role of private market investment within DC schemes with Aviva Director of Investments, Maiyuresh Rajah

The DB pension landscape 
Pensions Age speaks to BlackRock managing director and head of its DB relationship management team, Andrew Reid, about the DB pensions landscape 

Podcast: Who matters most in pensions?
In the latest Pensions Age podcast, Francesca Fabrizi speaks to Capita Pension Solutions global practice leader & chief revenue officer, Stuart Heatley, about who matters most in pensions and how to best meet their needs
Podcast: A look at asset-backed securities
Royal London Asset Management head of ABS, Jeremy Deacon, chats about asset-backed securities (ABS) in our latest Pensions Age podcast

Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement