Giving people a clear picture of all their pension pots in one place is a great way of helping savers with their pension management. It’s also a concept that a quarter of advisers view as a significant advice opportunity over the next two years. However, warning signs are beginning to emerge that the project may be parked due to a lack of government engagement.
• Dashboards have the potential to be transformative for consumers and advisers
• 26% of advisers believe pension dashboards will create major advice opportunities
• The government needs to re-engage, and compel all schemes to provide information to bring the dashboard to life
• Lack of parliamentary time may cause the pension dashboard project to be shelved
Kate Smith, comments: “Pension Dashboards will not only generate interest in pensions, they also have the potential to transform pension saving for consumers and advisers. Providing a clear view of all their pension pots at a glance, saves time and effort, and makes advice more affordable. With savers having lost track of £400 million worth of pensions, there’s a clear need for one. But despite this, the government is stalling and has failed to engage since the General Election, leaving the pension industry to do it on its own.
“However, the only way to make the pension dashboard a reality is for the government to legislate. To make dashboards meaningful, all pension schemes and providers need to be compelled to provide information about scheme memberships and ideally real time information and up to date valuations.
“Without legislation or regulation there’s a real risk that the pension dashboard will stop in its tracks. While commercial providers could launch their own dashboards, if there are schemes ‘missing’, success would be limited. The dashboard would be underused and the whole concept could become discredited. Government needs to reprioritise the pension dashboard and make space in the legislative timetable this side of 2020.”
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