Momentum is building behind the first ever Pensions Engagement Season as the cross-industry group joins forces with this year’s Pensions Awareness Week, as part of the biggest ever drive to boost people’s engagement with their pensions.
Pensions Awareness Week, established by Pension Geeks in 2014, is taking place between Monday 12th September and Friday 16th September. The 5-day digital event brings together pension providers, government and key stakeholders to deliver vital information to consumers to help them understand and engage with their pensions.
Pensions Engagement Season, the industry coalition co-ordinated by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and Pension and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA), has also welcomed two new funders – Aegon and Cushon. The new signatories means a total of 17 providers and schemes have committed to throw their weight behind the Season.
The three year campaign, funded by a collective investment from the industry, aims to boost peoples understanding of and engagement with pensions. It comes in response to long-running concerns about pension engagement, as research shows that only 20% of people are confident they have saved enough for retirement and over half of the public struggle to find their pension information.
Minister for Pensions Guy Opperman said:
“It’s great to see Pensions Engagement Season joining forces with Pensions Awareness Week to help savers get to grips with their pensions and bring retirement saving into everyday conversation.
“These efforts complement the crucial work already underway on pensions dashboards and simpler statements, and I’m looking forward to working collectively as we seek to bring about a step change in how the record number of Brits now saving for retirement engage with their pension.”
Rachel Parkinson, Co-founder of Pension Geeks and the Pension Awareness Campaign, said.
“At its core, Pension Awareness is about people. We understand that pensions can feel like a minefield, that’s why we set out to create a campaign that provides meaningful and practical help to individuals and families. We're thrilled that the campaign will serve as the opener to the Pensions Engagement Season and to be uniting with the wider industry - together we can have a much greater impact."
Dr Yvonne Braun, Director of Policy, Long Term Savings and Protection, at the ABI said:
“Helping people make sense of their pensions is a vital first step to building confidence in saving for retirement. As an industry, we will be most effective in this endeavour when we are speaking with one voice. That’s what is now happening with the Pensions Engagement Season and I’m delighted it will be the lead partner for Pensions Awareness Week, and to welcome Aegon and Cushon onboard.”
Nigel Peaple, Director of Policy and Advocacy at the PLSA said:
“We have been really encouraged by the number of organisations that have come forward to get involved with the Pensions Engagement Season initiative and that have asked us how they can help reach savers with the simple and clear messages planned for this pan-pensions industry campaign. Pensions Awareness Week is a well-established and recognisable industry initiative so it is great we will be able to build on the momentum already achieved.”
Notes to editors:
The sponsors of Pensions Engagement Season include:
Aegon, Aviva, Cushon, Fidelity, L&G, Nest, Now: Pensions, Pru - Part of M&G group, Royal London, Scottish Widows, Smart Pension, Standard Life - part of Phoenix Group, and The People's Pension.
The supporters of Pensions Engagement Season include:
Hargreaves Lansdown, Just, Railpen, and USS.
Enquiries to:
Myles Langstone 020 7216 7335 Mobile: 07834 626206
Helen Mitchell 020 7216 7411 Mobile: 07834 328512
Malcolm Tarling 020 7216 7410 Mobile: 07776 147667
Sarah Aspinall 020 7216 7412 Mobile: 07725 245297
The Association of British Insurers is the voice of the UK’s world leading insurance and long-term savings industry. A productive, inclusive and thriving sector, we are an industry that provides peace of mind to households and businesses across the UK and powers the growth of local and regional economies by enabling trade, risk taking, investment and innovation.
Skype and FaceTime are available for broadcast.
More news and information from the ABI is available on our web site, www.abi.org.uk.