The pensions industry should avoid being 'too clever' when it comes to discussions around delivering good member outcomes, industry experts have said, suggesting that an income for life is needed to give members more confidence in retirement.

Speaking at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Assocation (PLSA) Investment Conference 2025, USS Group CEO, Carol Young, noted that, at times, the industry can act "too clever" when considering the decisions members make about their pensions.

In particular, Young stressed the need for pension scheme providers to remember that members lives are multifaceted, and that they might not have all of the information needed to understand certain decisions made.

Whilst she suggested that there are tools that can help with this, such as stylised personas, she cautioned against too many "bells and whistles".

"You can start to get really clever about it", she said, "but we've got to weigh that against the benefit of having a stable proposition people can understand."

This was echoed by People's Partnership chief investment officer, Dan Mikulskis, who acknowledged that it can be hard to define what a good member outcome looks like.

"“The research we’ve done over a decade since freedom and choice clearly shows members want a ‘do it for me’ approach and one that doesn’t require a lot of intervention," he said.

Given this, he suggested that the pensions industry should "expect to see a lot of innovation in the retirement decumulation space over the coming years, which is to be welcomed".

However, he argued that investment is not the most important part of that, explaining that while the industry already has the building blocks for a good investment strategy, the focus should be on the member buying journey.

"A pot is a great start in drawing a pension and we have the investment tools we need to convert those pots into pensions – think of high-quality corporate bonds currently yielding 5 to 6 per cent and that’s really a great start," he stated.

"More complicated things can be added but they have to stack up against that starting hurdle rate for a very simple and high-quality corporate bond.

"What’s needed is the right member buying journey so that they understand what’s going on without being confused or being asked to answer a complicated series of questions.

“The industry can often-over complicate things which can lead to sub-optimal solutions. We think simplicity is important here and that there is a danger of over-complicating some of these things.”

WTW investment director, Andrew Doyle, echoed this, arguing that, with so much uncertainty facing savers, defined contribution (DC) decumulation can be "very challenging" for savers to navigate.

"We try and help members as much as we can," he continued, noting that industry modelers are helpful in allowing savers to understand what they have in retirement.

However, he argued that "to really truly overcome these challenges we need to be giving people the income for life solution."

Whilst he admitted that this already exists to an extent in terms of annuities, he argued that there are things out there that will deliver it far better outcomes, particularly new vehicle structures such as collective DC.

---