UK - The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) is asking trustees, members and advisers to supply their views on the Myners principles.

Six years ago, Paul Myners, now chairman of hedge fund group, Ermitage, was commissioned by the government to assess standards among fiduciaries of UK investment institutions.

His report suggested that the levels of trustee familiarity with investment matters was inadequate.
But the government left the industry to reform itself.

NAPF is now testing whether, six years on, a voluntary approach to improvement is adequate. The association fears that the government may oblige pension fund governorship to become a professional occupation.
Anyone wishing to vote in the online poll can visit: www.napf.co.uk.

At NAPF's annual investment conference this week, the assocation has warned the government to make sure new personal saving accounts do not replace existing good working pension schemes.

"We want only people who do not have access to a good pension at work with good employer contribution to come under the new National Pension Savings Scheme," NAPF chief executive, Joanne Segars told IPE.

The pension White Paper, which closes next Tuesday, sets out plans for a personal account scheme with auto-enrolment for all people who are currently not saving. However, the NAPF urges politicians to rethink that position in light of the fact that thousands of workers would currently have theoretical access to a good pension at their workplace and only have not signed up for it yet.

Last November pensions secretary John Hutton told an ABI conference  that the NPSS was designed to "fill a gap in the existing market, not substitute for it". But according to the NAPF "this position is not evident from the White Paper" and Segars said that "the government seems to be a bit confused about what their target group is".
 

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