The Chancellor’s Mansion House reforms could take until the end of the decade to implement, Aegon has said, outlining a roadmap for the reforms that runs till 2030, encompassing not one but likely two future general elections.

The government recently published a number of pension policy papers following the Chancellor's Mansion House speech, in addition to the Private Member's Bill to extend auto-enrolment that has been working its way through parliament, and ongoing work on pension dashboards.

Having previously encouraged the government to urgently produce a roadmap for the reform package to avoid “mindboggling complexity and chaos", Aegon has since shared a proposed timetable for the reforms, which runs until 2030.

Aegon suggested that automatic enrolment enhancements should be expected to be implemented from 2025/26, alongside granting access to core pension freedom options, including pension drawdown.

This would be followed by the introduction of a value for money framework for default funds in 2026, as well as member access to pension dashboards.

In 2027, Aegon suggested that the government look to introduce decumulation only collective defined contribution (CDC), as well as extending the value for money framework to other funds and decumulation.

Aegon argued that small pots consolidation work should not be implemented until after the first wave of scheme consolidation prompted by the VFM framework and until dashboards are embedded, proposing 2028/29 for this work.

Only in 2029/30 did the group suggest that the government mandate trustees to offer default retirement income solutions, and to introduce the value for money framework to CDC, including decumulation only.

Finally, it suggested that trustees should add decumulation only CDC to retirement options in 2030, explaining that these are not currently available and need to be bedded in before trustees should be required to consider offering them.

Aegon pensions director, Steven Cameron, stated: “The government and regulators have gone into overdrive with a highly ambitious and radical pack of pension policy proposals.

“This covers enhancements to auto-enrolment, a new value for money framework, pension dashboards, wider retirement choices for trust-based scheme members, a solution for small deferred pension pots and extensions to the concept of CDC schemes.

“With so many links and inter-dependencies, we need a ‘grand implementation plan’ which in light of the forthcoming general election would hopefully have support across political parties.

“This will include setting priorities, reflecting both a logical sequence but also importantly the size of potential improvements in member outcomes.

"The Department for Work and Pensions' own analysis shows that enhancements to auto-enrolment could improve member outcomes by more than all the other policy initiatives put together, making it a clear front-runner for prioritising.

“We urge government to concurrently focus on the value for money framework, which is expected to lead to greater, faster scheme consolidation, and pension dashboards.

"These will both have particularly far-reaching benefits for many millions of members as well as being important building blocks to offering wider retirement choices for trust-based members as well as solutions to small deferred pension pots.

“In contrast, we’d recommend deferring any requirement for trustees to design default retirement income solutions until later in the decade, while any consideration of decumulation only CDC needs to factor in both the many outstanding questions here as well as the time industry will take to consider supplying these.”

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