Reforming Pensions to Drive Economic Growth        

On Tuesday 17 October 2023, the Industry and Parliament Trust (IPT) hosted a breakfast event for parliamentarians and industry representatives titled ‘Reforming Pensions to Drive Economic Growth’. This discussion was chaired by the Rt Hon Sir Stephen Timms MP, Chair, Select Committee on Work & Pensions, with guest speakers The Lord Mayor of the City of London and Peter Branner, Chief Investment Officer at abrdn.

Key discussion points:

• 8.5 million people in the UK do not have a pension provision and many of those participating in a pension are saving in insufficient amounts. Financial literacy and numeracy levels are a barrier to long-term saving decisions.
• A Future Growth Fund can promote investment in UK business. The UK can learn from other countries’ models - some of the most successful world pension funds invest in non-listed assets.
• The issue with illiquid investments is you do not know what they are worth until they are sold. A robust regulatory framework would be required to address this and prevent scams.
• Need to look at liquidity – long term capital is more beneficial than short term liquidity.
• There needs to be more incentives to invest locally. Overseas pension investment outnumbers UK investment in our own infrastructure and startups.
• Forward thinking and long-term policy commitments that last across Parliaments are essential.