Large employers could face a pensions management skills gap, Ross Trustees has warned, after research revealed that nearly one third (30 per cent) of large employers have reported challenges when recruiting staff with specialist pensions management skills and expertise.

The survey also revealed that more than one in four (27 per cent) of large employers are planning to reallocate responsibility for pensions management internally as they struggle to recruit specialised resources.

However, Ross Trustees argued that reallocating oversight of corporate pension schemes to non-specialists could run the risk of pensions management receiving less attention, despite increasing complexity in the pensions landscape.

Indeed, the firm noted that 2022 has brought a number of new regulations, including the reformed Single Code of Practice and Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) TCFD reporting requirements.

Despite concerns of a potential skill gap, the research found that two thirds (66 per cent) of large businesses have not considered bringing in external support when their current pensions manager leaves the business.

This is despite less than a third (29 per cent) stating they had the necessary in-house skills to reallocate these responsibilities internally.

Commenting on the findings, Ross Trustees trustee director, Geoff McKenzie, stated: “In-house pensions managers are a crucial but often overlooked role within a company. With a role often spanning financial, legal and HR, the skills of a professional pensions manager are in short supply.

“This is especially worrying given the progressively complex pensions landscape. Pensions are headline news at the moment and the increasing regulatory burden placed on scheme governance means it is difficult for the role of a pensions manager to be performed by non-specialist alongside another day job.

“External pension services firms offer the ideal way to address this skills gap, either for the long term or for a short-term project where pensions issues feature.

"With in-house pensions managers in short supply, external advisory services offer a cost-effective way of ensuring all regulatory requirements are met and offer businesses extra capacity to deal with any unexpected events.”

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