2016

21 December 2016 – FinTech prototype dashboard developers announced

An ABI press release announces the names of six FinTech firms who will develop the prototype pensions dashboard.

 

14 December 2016 – Over 45s are technology adopters but pensions lags behind

Aviva’s Winter 2016 Real Retirement Report demonstrates over 45s’ appetite to use technology to manage finances, but that pensions lags behind.  This is why Aviva is a committed supporter of the dashboard initiative.

29 November 2016 – Dashboard makes it into the Daily Mail

Nutmeg Head of Financial Advice Lisa Caplan sets out in a Daily Mail article five reasons why the pensions dashboard will make you richer.

11 November 2016 – Check your State Pension success

DWP announces that its new Check your State Pension online service received 343,000 visits in September 2016.

 

5 November 2016 – 18 prototype participants

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) announces in a news release that there are 17 providers working on the dashboard prototype project, with the Department for Work and Pensions actively involved to ensure State Pension is taken into account.

October 2016 roundup

ABI assembles a dashboard team, PASA sets up a dashboard working group, pensionsync publishes a dashboard paper, OIX Alpha 1 project starts, and Origo argue for a single dashboard network.

11 September 2016 – Prototype announcement

Economic Secretary to the Treasury Simon Kirby makes an announcement that a prototype of the Pensions Dashboard will be ready by March 2017.

31 May 2016 – State Pension calculator full launch imminent

An FT Adviser article quotes Pensions Minister Ros Altmann as saying the online Check your State Pension service (see 12 May 2016 update below) will be fully launched over the next few months.  The Minister also confirmed this new government service could feed into the dashboard.

26 May 2016 – White Paper launch

ABI / MAS launch their white paper, resulting from the cross-industry / government “Creating a Pensions Dashboard” pilot project, containing a range of recommendations for next steps.

 

25 May 2016 – Adviser support

Royal London publishes a press release on its survey of nearly 250 advisers in the first half of May, including the finding that three fifths of advisers believe a dashboard will help people engage in retirement planning.

16 May 2016 – Royal London policy paper

Royal London issues a press release to publicise its policy paper “Pensions Dashboards around the World”.  At a launch event in London, Pensions Regulator Chairman Mark Boyle said that there is “a real need for somebody — or some bodies — to take a strong leadership role in the dashboard’s direction and implementation” (read his full speech here).

12 May 2016 – Check your State Pension service update

A DWP announcement states there have been 300,000 unique visits to the new online Check your State Pension service during the three months since it was launched for beta testing (on 12 February 2016).

11 May 2016 – WPSC report

The Parliamentary Work and Pensions Select Committee (WPSC) publishes a Report on automatic enrolment (AE) including a recommendation that, as part of next year’s review AE, the Government should consider the steps necessary to create a single comprehensive pensions dashboard by 2019 and the degree of Government intervention necessary to deliver on its pledge.

10 May 2016 – Dunstan Thomas brochure

Dunstan Thomas publish a brochure on the entitled “Pensions Dashboard: Helping to make customers engage with their data”.

 

9 May 2016 – DWP tracing service goes online

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) announces that its Pensions Tracing Service is now available online.

 

6 May 2016 – State pension should be included

In a Corporate Adviser article, Labour Shadow Pensions Minister Angela Rayner is reported as saying: “Absolutely the Government should commit to being part of the pension dashboard by 2019.  You can’t tell everybody else they have got to do something and then not practice what you preach.”

 

5 May 2016 – V1.0 by end of 2016

In a Professional Adviser article, Origo Managing Director Paul Pettitt says the first version of the pension dashboard could be in place by the end of 2016, but the question is how much of the industry will be covered by the eventual deadline of 2019.  In the Origo press release, Paul says difficulties in delivering the dashboard by the 2019 deadline are not as great as they might seem.

 

4 May 2016 – Political will

A Retirement Planner article reports on an Aviva briefing where Dutch pension provider InAdmin NV Managing Director Rik Douwes spoke.  Rik said: “You don’t need three years of programming to upload information in a standard format.  It is more the political will to do it and government drive to push it than it is a technical issue.  The national register in Holland started with the uploading of annual statements.  If the UK did that, records would at least be all in one place.”

 

28 April 2016 – Seven steps

An FT Adviser article sets out Intelliflo’s seven steps to a practical dashboard, including “The ability to value the entire portfolio assigned to the post-retirement strategy”.  Intelliflo Executive Chairman Nick Eatock goes on to explain that the main challenge with the provision of a pension dashboard is the diverse nature of the retirement vehicles used to deliver a retirement income.

 

26 April 2016 – Lack of DWP commitment

Origo Managing Director Paul Pettitt is reported in an FT Adviser article as expressing concern about the Department of Work & Pension’s reluctance to confirm that it will provide state pension information to the pensions dashboard initiative.

 

14 April 2016 – Dashboard given priority in TPR’s Corporate Plan

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) publishes its Corporate Plan, listing its 10 priorities for 2016-2019.  Under priority number 8 (to “increase member engagement with pensions”) TPR says that, if necessary, it will facilitate the creation of a pensions dashboard in partnership with the FCA and government departments.

 

13 April 2016 – Economic Secretary to champion the dashboard

Speaking at an industry forum on the Financial Advice Market Review (FAMR), Economic Secretary to the Treasury Harriett Baldwin MP announces that she will act as ministerial champion to support industry in designing and delivering the dashboard, working together to launch it by 2019.

8 April 2016 – How to deliver the dashboard

In a Money Marketing article, Aviva Head of Financial Research John Lawson argues that, instead of trying to “boil the ocean”, the pensions dashboard project should start small.

30 March 2016 – Origo press release

In a press release, Origo announces the building of dashboard engine to enable industry to efficiently support consumer pension dashboards.  Origo is currently in the final stages of delivering an integration hub to enable providers and platforms to more efficiently share data with third parties, supported by 14 major pension providers.

 

29 March 2016 – Pensions data supply chain

In a LinkedIn Pulse post, systemsync Chief Executive Officer Will Lovegrove writes that the pensions dashboard concept misses the bigger picture.  The key is access to pension data as part of a pension data supply chain.  Government should stimulate this chain by purchasing data access from providers, enabling many dashboards to be developed, wherever members would find them useful.

 

29 March 2016 – Desire for collaboration

In a letter to the FT, ABI Director of Policy, Long Term Savings and Protection Dr Yvonne Braun writes that the Government has demonstrated its ability to collaborate on large-scale initiatives with the private sector to deliver services for the public good, for example accident data sharing with the police, and Flood Re to enable affordable insurance for high flood risk homes.  She says that the ABI would like the pensions dashboard to be the next such collaboration.

29 March 2016 – Not going to happen

In a Corporate Adviser article, as well as calling for a new name for the pensions dashboard (such as the pensions kitchen), Teresa Hunter sets out why the facility won’t be available any time soon.

 

29 March 2016 – Five challenges

In a Professional Adviser article, Space Managing Partner Marilyn Cole lists the five big challenges in delivering the pensions dashboard.

 

27 March 2016 – WPSC support

In a BBC News report about the state pension changes, the Work and Pensions Select Committee Chairman Frank Field says “we very much welcome the commitment in the Budget to a one stop pensions dashboard, which we and others have been calling for.”

24 March 2016 – Central body hosting

In a Professional Adviser article about the new Lifetime ISAs, Scottish Widows Head of Pensions Market Development Ian Naismith welcomes the commitment to get the pensions dashboard in place by 2019.  However, he says it’s important that all pensions including state ones should be included from the start.  This can be achieved if a central body coordinates and hosts the hub, e.g. the new pensions guidance service which is planned to be funded by a levy on all pension schemes.

 

22 March 2016 – Deadline welcomed

Writing in Adviser Business Review, Origo Managing Director Paul Pettitt says they welcome the challenge of delivering the dashboard by 2019.  Also, FAMR’s recommendation that HM Treasury should co-ordinate the Government’s involvement will provide welcome backing.

 

21 March 2016 – Government should deliver

In a letter to the Financial Times, Centre for Policy Studies’ Michael Johnson says the Government would be wise to embark on planning to deliver the dashboard by itself, as the pensions industry is skewered by self-interest.

21 March 2016 – Governance and funding initiative

In a TISA press release, Adrian Boulding says TISA will establish a not-for-profit body to facilitate the sharing of pensions data.  In New Model Adviser, he says TISA has begun a search for financial backers for the new body.

 

18 March 2016 – Unattainable target

In a Money Marketing article, Dentons Director of Technical Services Martin Tilley says “[2019] is an unattainable soundbite – it isn’t going to happen. It needs to be consulted on and three years is far too short a timeline to implement it.”

16 March 2016 – Swedish experience and Budget 2016

At the Sigma Camp Digital conference in Manchester, Swedish pensions dashboard Chief Executive Anders Lundström and Development Manager Patrik Malmqvist present their learnings from redesigning the front-end of MinPension.se.  Their excellent presentation, which includes some gold dust for the UK, is on YouTube here.

At the same time, in the 2016 Budget, the UK Government confirms it will ensure that pensions dashboards are designed, funded and launched, meaning individuals can view all their retirement savings in one place.

14 March 2016 – FAMR final report

HM Treasury (HMT) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) publish their joint Financial Advice Market Review (FAMR) Final Report, including a recommendation for a pensions dashboard to be made available to consumers, building on the current pension passport initiative.

HMT should champion the dashboard and play a convening role in the development, specifically:

  • Co-ordinating the Government’s involvement in the dashboard
  • Ensuring appropriate legislative and administrative support as the project develops
  • Challenging industry to create the dashboard, bringing together industry and consumer representatives to help them set direction and drive progress.

However, commenting on the report in Actuarial Post article, Royal London Intermediary Chief Executive Officer Isobel Langton said rather than challenging the industry to deliver the dashboard, Government and regulators should be collaborating with providers to deliver a viable dashboard.

 

11 March 2016 – CPS press release

In a press release, the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) calls for the Government to introduce a pensions dashboard in next week’s Budget.

11 March 2016 – Ministerial comment

Speaking to Money Marketing, Pensions Minister Ros Altmann says plans to develop a dashboard are a “decade or more away” because some firms are drastically lagging behind the industry. “We have to recognise that for the foreseeable future you won’t be able to capture every pension policy.”

8 March 2016 – Chicken and egg conundrum

In a Pensions Insight opinion piece, Sara Benwell argues that we need legislation to make a dashboard work, but legislation is unlikely to come along unless we can show how a dashboard might work in practice.  Essentially, however, the industry doesn’t much care whether the chicken or the egg comes first – as long as we get both soon.

8 March 2016 – Aviva press release

In a press release, Aviva calls for an industry-led initiative to develop a pensions dashboard.  Clive Bolton, Managing Director Aviva Retirement Solutions said: “Rather than wait for government to legislate, we believe that a progressive coalition of providers, government, regulators and consumer representatives could deliver a solution faster.”

8 March 2016 – Which? research

In a press release, consumer group Which? publishes the results of its January 2016 research, including the result that 4 in 10 of the 600 over-50s surveyed said they find it difficult to keep track of their pension pots.  Which? is calling on the Government to use the forthcoming Budget to work with industry and introduce a pensions dashboard without delay, announcing a clear timetable for its introduction, so savers can see all their pots in one place alongside their state pension forecast.

2 March 2016 – Labour Party review

The Labour Party publishes the report from its 21 month Independent Review of Retirement Income, authored by the Pensions Institute’s David Blake.  One of the report’s many recommendations is for the Government to introduce a pensions dashboard as soon as possible.  Although this idea has been dismissed in the past as too much of a technological challenge, given the multiple databases that the information is held on, the technology is now available to do this.

22 February 2016 – PensionBee article

Financial & Technology Research Centre (F&TRC) Director Ian McKenna introduces, in a Money Marketing article, a new pension consolidation service called PensionBee.  This service aims to help individuals track down and consolidate their various pensions, although defined benefit and other types of pension are excluded.  The pension finding service is already live, with the consolidation service expected to launch shortly.

17 February 2016 – TISA article

In an FT Adviser article, the Tax Incentivised Savings Association (TISA)’s Policy Strategy Director Adrian Boulding writes that after 15 years of waiting for politicians to sort out the issue of fragmented retirement savings, some brave folk in the industry are going to sort out this problem themselves, without government help, by creating the pensions dashboard.

It will be a leap forward for pension communications, allowing members to “pull” information when it suits them.  Consumer behaviour will determine whether or not dashboards achieve wide coverage.  There is much to be done to get the concept up and running, including data protection and usage, consumer permissions and digital identities.  We should be optimistic of a great future for pension dashboards, with a strong case for industry to jointly get consumers to a better place.

Adrian also talks in TISA YouTube video about what a dashboard is and why we need one.

 

12 February 2016 – Money Marketing editorial

A Money Marketing editorial quotes Aegon’s Regulatory Strategy Director Steven Cameron saying it would be really helpful if the Government said what it considers to be a good public policy outcome for the pensions dashboard.  The article went on to say that without a strong Government lead, providers won’t rush to fund the technology development.  If Government doesn’t step in now, the much-championed dashboard could become an albatross around the pensions industry’s neck.

9 February 2016 – TISA article

In a New Model Adviser article, the Tax Incentivised Savings Association (TISA)’s Policy Strategy Director Adrian Boulding sets out a vision for a pensions dashboard, describing how it will help multiple parties: consumers, employers, pension providers, advisers and the guidance service.

8 February 2016 – Dunstan Thomas opinion piece

Dunstan Thomas’s Retirement Strategy Director Adrian Boulding writes in an opinion piece that building a pensions dashboard is a ‘no-brainer’.  A dashboard would provide different solutions for different age segmented groups of consumers, and would offer several upsides for providers.  However, if significant chunks of the industry frustrate progress and deny consumers access to their own data, the Government will have to intervene.  The industry should make a dashboard happen now, instead of waiting for Government to force its hand.

5 February 2016 – ABI comment

In an FT article, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) Retirement Policy Manager Rob Yuille says the ABI supports improvements to retirement communications to make them more engaging for customers and is working on standardising language and the pension dashboard proposal.

 

1 February 2016 – Standard Life article

In a Corporate Adviser article, Standard Life’s Head of Pensions Strategy Jamie Jenkins says that a pensions dashboard is merely a question of time, comparing it to automated teller machines (ATMs).  In 1967, ATMs were very basic and many people said they would never use one and they would never catch on, but today ATMs can be found all over the world and will soon recognise users’ eyes.

The concept of a pensions dashboard is at a similar stage to ATMs in the 1960s.  Perhaps at the outset, people will just be able to find and see their pensions in one place, but in future dashboards will be fully functional, allowing changes & updates, fund switches and the consolidation of old pots.  A key obstacle is the will of industry participants to share the necessary data: everyone needs to be on board to make it viable.  But once there were plenty of banks with no intention of having ATMs.

 

29 January 2016 – TPR consultation

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) consults on its draft Innovation Plan which encompasses the pensions dashboard initiative.  TPR sees the dashboard development as being industry-led with cross Government support helping to drive the process forward.  As part of the Innovation Plan, TPR intends to put in place, by the end of summer 2016, a regular forum to discuss innovation with pensions industry representatives.  Through the forum TPR hopes to facilitate the development of a pensions dashboard and encourage the industry to share its data more widely.

 

27 January 2016 – Pensions World roundtable

Pensions World hosts a roundtable event where a panel of experts discussed the changing pensions landscape, including the topic of a pensions dashboard.

The Automobile Association Head of Pensions Mike Sullivan said it is easier to see all your pots in one place but people who understand finance are not who we should be worrying about, so he is at a loss about who we are trying to help.

Hogan Lovells Partner Duncan Buchanan said a dashboard would be a massive IT project.  In future, six to ten master trusts and some personal pension [providers] will cover most employees so as long as those providers are talking to each other it will not be such an issue.  A dashboard would also have to show the value of the individual’s state pension and that information is hard to get hold of.

Close Brothers Head of Financial Education Jeanette Makings said a consolidation exercise could make a big difference to a member’s pension but a huge online dashboard IT project is a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

21 January 2016 – Origo/TPP conference

Origo and The People’s Pension (TPP) jointly host a one-off half day conference on the topic of the pensions dashboard.  The conference was chaired by Pensions Insight who also published a report on the event the next day.  Some of the key points made at the conference were:

  • A pensions dashboard can’t be built without government help, and to survive in the long term it will be crucial for political buy in and consensus to be secured and maintained
  • Government shouldn’t build or fund the dashboard, but should provide a regulatory framework of compulsion on schemes & providers to take part, without which the project is predicted to fail
  • Origo Development Manager Michael Roe said they have taken the technical architecture discussion as far as they can without a legal requirement on providers to take part, and The People’s Pension Director of Policy and Engagement Darren Philp said that despite all the talk and good work to date, without a regulatory or legislative push “it just ain’t gonna happen!”
  • Former Pensions Minister Steve Webb, now Royal London Director of Policy and External Communications, called for Government to play a much more proactive role as soon as possible
  • The Pensions Regulator (TPR) Chair Mark Boyle confirmed that it’s still very early days but TPR and the FCA are in talks together on the project as they both have a significant interest in it

The Government’s immediate next steps on the dashboard initiative should be to:

  • Secure ministerial support for the dashboard development
  • Set up a steering group of HMT, DWP, FCA and TPR with clear senior sponsorship
  • Write a statement of intent for a dashboard then talk about it publicly & consistently
  • Draw up a plan so that the industry and other stakeholders can take it forward.

Various videos from the conference are available to view on YouTube including the panel discussion and interviews with industry leaders.

 

21 January 2016 – KPMG report

KPMG publishes a thought piece entitled Paradise Postponed looking at future trends in the UK pensions landscape.  The report mentions the pensions dashboard development and analyses the Swedish version (“Minpension”) as a case study.  It uses a system of electronic certificates providing a single sign-on, whether people access through on-line banking, savings providers or directly.  Users report a substantial increase in their pensions knowledge and an increase in consumer trust.  But building the service was a material undertaking taking 10 years of development demanding long term commitment from all stakeholders.  The crucial issue of data sharing required regulation.

 

21 January 2016 – ABI blog post

Association of British Insurers (ABI) Director of Long Term Savings Policy Yvonne Braun writes in a blog post that without an answer to the basic question of “How much [pension] have I got and where can I find it?”, the financial services industry will struggle to encourage engagement and incentivise savings to the levels needed by society.

The ABI is supportive of the dashboard concept, having discussed the benefits of a ‘virtual aggregator’ back in 2012.  However, an overarching strategy involving industry, regulators and Government working in partnership is required to deliver the project.  The pensions industry needs to learn from other sectors and leverage technology to provoke engagement and secure long-term savings for the future.

 

8 January 2016 – FCA response

The Work and Pensions Select Committee (WPSC) publishes the FCA response to their 14 October report.  In the response, the FCA repeated that it is supportive of a pensions dashboard and confirmed that this is being taken forward by DWP alongside industry.  The FCA said it is one of the interested stakeholders and confirmed it will provide the necessary regulatory support for the introduction of a pensions dashboard.