PLSA Policy Board appoints six new members
03 May 2022
The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) has appointed six new members to its Policy Board, following a comprehensive selection process.
Joining the Policy Board are Tesco PLC’s Laura Hay, Royal London’s Jamie Jenkins, London Stock Exchange Group’s Ava Lau, Greater Manchester’s Euan Miller, Smart Pension’s Darren Philp and Pinsent Masons’ Carolyn Saunders.
Formed in 2018, the PLSA Policy Board guides and decides on the PLSA’s public policy positions, with a remit stretching across all PLSA policy work on pensions and lifetime savings. Its goal is to shape the policy agenda for all aspects of retirement income.
It is chaired by John Chilman, Chief Executive at Railpen, and encompasses 20 participants from across the PLSA’s membership; in particular pension funds from the DB, DC, LGPS, and Master Trust sectors, as well as Business Members such as Employee Benefits Consultants and Law Firms.
The Policy Board carries out our mission to help everyone achieve a better income in retirement. Earlier this year the PLSA set out its policy and regulatory goals. These include championing a policy framework that means most people will have an adequate income in retirement and supporting our membership by arguing for the right regulatory environment for savers and schemes. In 2022, the Policy Board is going to lead our work on six priority themes: pensions adequacy, pensions dashboards, responsible investment, DB funding, key challenges for the LGPS, and DC decumulation.
In addition to the six appointments to the PLSA’s Policy Board, there have also been almost 30 other appointments made to the Associations Policy Committees. These are nine appointments to the DB Committee, ten appointments to the DC Committee, seven appointments to the Master Trust Committee and two appointments to the Local Authority Committee.
John Chilman, Policy Board Chair, PLSA, said: “I am very much looking forward to working with Laura, Jamie, Ava, Euan, Darren and Carolyn on the Policy Board. With this diverse group of thought-leaders and experts from across the PLSA’s membership we can shape the pensions and savings landscape for the benefit of both schemes and savers as we focus on our top six priorities for the year ahead.
“I would also like to thank all those who applied but, on this occasion, were not selected. There was stiff competition for these voluntary roles, with many applicants for each place. The vast majority of applicants met the personal criteria for the roles so often selection was based on ensuring that our governance is representative of our wide and complex membership.”
Nigel Peaple, Director of Policy and Advocacy, PLSA said: “The PLSA’s policy governance, which encompasses both the Policy Board and the four Policy Committees, help us develop solutions to the big policy issues facing pensions and the more day to day, but equally important, regulatory issues, that confront our members. All the best ideas and expert understanding comes from our membership so the role played by the PLSA members on our committees is vital.”
For more information about the PLSA’s Policy Board and its members, click here.
For more information about the Policy Committees and its members, click here.
The full PLSA Policy Board comprises
- Adrian Boulding; Now Pensions
- Anna Rogers; Arc Pensions Law
- Ava Lau; London Stock Exchange Group
- Carolyn Saunders; Pinsent Masons
- Darren Philp; Smart Pension
- Euan Miller; Greater Manchester
- Jamie Jenkins; Royal London
- Rachel Brothwood; West Midlands
- Sorca Kelly-Scholte; BlackRock
The six priority topics for 2022 are:
- Adequacy / AE Scope - We will be campaigning for the Government to follow through on its commitments made in AE 2017 review to introduce pension saving on the first pound of salary rather than only above the lower earnings band and for AE it to apply to 18- to 21-year-olds by the mid-2020s. We will also argue for the adoption of the PLSA’s vision in Hitting the Target for increasing contribution levels to 12% by the early 2030s, with a 50/50 split between employer and employee.
- Pensions Dashboards - We will be seeking to help the industry to prepare for their new obligations to provide data to Pension Dashboards and to ensure that the consumer protection regime is appropriate.
- DB Funding Code - We will continue to represent the pensions industry in responding to TPR’s proposals for a reform of the funding regime for DB pensions. We are especially keen to ensure the regime adopts a flexible approach to DB schemes that are open to new accrual.
- Responsible Investment - We hope to play our part in in supporting measures adopted at COP26. We have a number of joint industry initiatives: one with the IA (Stewardship), and one with the IA and ABI (TCFD).
- LGPS – Key Challenges – We will complete and publish our research on the challenges facing the LGPS, including the complex legislative and regulatory regime, under which they operate, and then carry forward this project, which is dedicated to strengthening and futureproofing the LGPS.
- DC Decumulation - We will be campaigning for the adoption for our approach – Guided Retirement Income Choices - to helping members of DC schemes when they draw their pension.
Mark Smith, Senior PR Manager
020 7601 1726 | [email protected]
Steven Kennedy, Senior PR Manager
020 7601 1737 | 07713 073024 | [email protected]