As we start a new month, the amount of industry news doesn’t seem to be slowing down as this week TPR chief executive, Nausicaa Delfas, announced an expansion of regulatory oversight to include professional trustee firms as part of its move to a more prudential style of regulation.

This shift towards a more prudential style of regulation was welcomed by pension professionals, who described it as “long overdue”.

Additionally, TPR urged small defined contribution (DC) schemes struggling to compete with larger, better-governed schemes to consider winding up. The warning followed TPR revealing that an increasing number of small schemes have been fined for poor governance.

There were also concerns raised this week around defined benefit (DB) pension schemes, with research from Pensions Insurance Corporation (PIC) highlighting concerns among DB members regarding government proposals allowing employers to withdraw surplus cash from their schemes.

The research suggested that members fear such changes could introduce financial risks for them and other beneficiaries.

This was not the only discussion around DB pensions, as the Social Market Foundation called for greater protections for DB schemes through the PPF, arguing that a stronger safety net would provide schemes with the confidence to invest surplus funds, ultimately driving economic growth.

Meanwhile, the PPF acknowledged the “time is right” to review key aspects of its governing legislation. It is considering stakeholder calls for reforms, particularly concerning its levy structure and the level of indexation provided to members.

However, DB schemes were not the only type of pension scheme in focus this week as the government was told by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) that reforms needed to make DC decumulation easier to navigate.

The IFS warned that the number of people making complex and consequential decisions about their pension wealth in retirement is rising "substantially".

In terms of industry and policy developments this week, the FCA also provided an update on consumer support, announcing that it is running a policy sprint to test for Targeted Support.

Additionally, the FCA granted approval to Aegon UK to launch its final two long-term asset funds (LTAFs), following last month’s approval of its first fund.

Calls for government action were also prominent this week. This included the government considering “urgent measures” to help savers avoid missed opportunities after delays in NHS pension scheme remedial service statements were announced.

Additionally, there were recommendations for the government to support a new programme encouraging UK DC pension schemes to invest in private capital, particularly venture and growth capital funds.

Meanwhile, First Actuarial suggested that the ongoing review of the financial ombudsman service (FOS), along with broader attempts to lighten the regulatory load, offers a "significant" opportunity to rebalance the relationship between consumers and advisers in pension redress cases, which remain at a historic low.

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