There is a “huge opportunity” for the pensions industry to connect and engage with ‘Generation K’ to ensure they have good retirement prospects, economist and author, Professor Noreena Hertz, has said.

Speaking at the PLSA Annual Conference 2023, Hertz described Generation K – those born between 1997 and 2007 - as a digital, lonely and socially conscious group, who are more financially prudent then previous generations.

Regarding pensions, Hertz queried how the industry could present pensions to Generation K in a way that they would be familiar with, and highlighted the potential virtues of pensions dashboards.

“Having a dashboard is the sort of thing that is necessary for this generation,” she stated.

“There is a huge opportunity for your sector with this generation, provided you can speak to them in their language and reach them in their way.”

Hertz also pointed to the potential of the ‘metaverse’, a virtual world where people operate and communicate as avatars, and highlighted it as a potential area that the pensions sector could use to improve engagement with younger savers.

“It’s about: How can you build a story that really connects with them? How can you find ambassadors within this generation? How can you then display their savings and pensions in a way, through a dashboard or such like, so they can see where their money is going?,” she continued.

“How do we speak to these big concerns they have about climate change, the environment, the ‘S’ part of environmental, social and governance (ESG)? They are very concerned about the S in ESG as well.

“Among your members, can you create communities amongst your members that have shared interest? Can you take a facilitating role?

“So, there are huge opportunities for this generation.”

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