Displaying items by tag: ABI

Tributes have been paid to former Association of British Insurers director Peter Montagnon who died suddenly on Tuesday.

The Association of British Insurers has warned that “alarming” numbers of pension savers are entering retirement and using pensions drawdown without taking any financial advice.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) and National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) have launched a partnership, boosting the relationship between the insurance and long-term savings trade body and the Government-established workplace pension scheme.

The launch, by the FCA and The Pensions Regulator yesterday, of a joint regulatory strategy aimed at taking action to deliver better outcomes for pension consumers has been backed by the profession.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has launched a new campaign urging younger workers to “Love Your Pension”, as part of the industry’s commitment to auto-enrolment.

Wealth management and financial advice association PIMFA has hit out at the Government after it was reported the pensions dashboard idea could be in jeopardy.

Reports that Pensions Secretary Esther McVey was planning to kill off the proposed pensions dashboard were branded “a huge let down to millions of savers.”

The Association of British Insurers has released a five point plan aimed at ‘engaging’ consumers with their retirement options far earlier in life than currently.

The ABI is concerned that half of fully withdrawn pension pots are not spent but shifted into other savings and investments which the ABI says could mean consumers paying too much tax and also missing out on compound investment growth.

It fears some consumers are blundering due to lack of long term planning and engagement with their retirement options.

The trade body’s plan is contained in a new report, Interventions in the Retirement Market, which outlines a series of measures the financial provider trade body wants to see.



The ABI says that three years on from the dawn of pension flexibility reforms under the Pension Freedom changes, it is “stepping up” efforts to ensure that consumers are getting the best out of their retirement.

The ABI’s five point plan promotes active consumer engagement – empowering consumers to make their own, well-informed decisions through improved communications and use of guidance.

The five interventions the ABI wants to see are:

• Intervention 1: Tailored and phased customer communications throughout a saver’s life
• Intervention 2: Creating the mid-life MOT
• Intervention 3: Prompting more people to use guidance
• Intervention 4: Making the retirement risk warnings fit for purpose
• Intervention 5: Improvements to communications once someone has retired

Rob Yuille, head of retirement policy at the ABI, said: "Pension freedoms put more power into the hands of consumers, but this flexibility also increased the complexity and risks that consumers face.

“Our recommendations are for interventions that will transform the way people interact with their pension pots and help people navigate their choices. We’re calling on a number of stakeholders today to help us to deliver the practical steps needed to make these interventions happen.”

The ABI wants legislation to compel pensions providers and schemes to provide data to Pension Dashboards - its government-backed project to give consumers a one-stop place for all their pensions information.

Bristol-based online investment provider and Financial Planning firm Hargreaves Lansdown is joining the Association of British Insurers as its first platform provider member.