LAST year I wrote to you commenting on George Osborne’s vow on independent pensions advice. It was with great interest, therefore, that I read article on pension savers (“Pension savers are urged to be wary of swindlers”, The Herald, July 27. It notes amongst other things that a recent estimate suggests that pension scams have taken nearly £1 billion from pension pots in a few months. So much for the availability of independent advice. In addition, one shouldn’t overlook that it’s not only fraud that’s an issue but poorly performing, expensively managed products which also eats into pensioners incomes.
Last July I noted that it was not beyond the wit of man, government even, to establish pension product vehicles which would be fair. Governments of all persuasions for more than a century have provided legislation and regulation to facilitate pension saver schemes. They have done this because it benefits both the nation and individuals in terms of the economy and people’s long term well being especially in their later years. However, over the last year or so I have observed that no-one has asked the key question. Why is it,that if it is right and proper to legislate and regulate the establishment of pension arrangements, it isn’t right and proper to regulate pension products so that they provide pensioners with fair returns?
No-one should be in any doubt that introduction of legislation which does not require regulated pension products was cynical given the track record of the Government and finance industry. In less than 20 years we have had a number of scandals/ issues - pensions theft (Allied Steel and Wire), Equitable Life, annuities reform, pensions increases linked to a consumer price index as against a retail price index and monetary policy/ quantitative easing which is affecting financial asset prices.
In short, the fig leaf of “expert financial guidance” which accompanied the new pensions legislation has now shown itself to be what it always was, a political con. It demonstrates that the Government has learned little and cares less from the various debacles in recent times when tens of thousands of pension savers were robbed of their savings facilitated by an inadequate regulatory system.
It is time for the bad pension legislation to be amended so that new pension measures can be introduced to protect would-be pensioners’ savings. Do we really have to wait for many more billions to be lost before action has been taken? Both the country and the public would benefit from a fair system.
John Walls,
50 Weymouth Drive, Glasgow.
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