The True Colours of the NAPF

The true colours of the National Association of Pension Funds are showing through in their latest comments. They are recorded in Professional Pensions Magazine as saying that signposting members to the guidance guarantee could cost: ‘In the case of the largest schemes this could be in excess of £100,000 a year’.

And so, the NAPF is again exposed as thinking about their largest members. If a plan has millions under investment and the company is a multi-million pound enterprise, then £100,000 could be seen as quite reasonable.

What about the small and medium sized employers? Their costs of signposting may be less than £100,000 of course, but in real terms, a much higher percentage of funds under management or of the company’s value.

The NAPF are also recorded as questioning the need to signpost every time pensions are mentioned, especially if the member is ‘many years’ from needing it. Again, this is missing the point. If the member is in a guaranteed Defined Benefit plan, then maybe so. But if it’s Defined Contribution, then the more they can save at an earlier age the better. Again, the NAPF has shown its true colours. Not just a big company bias, but a DB bias.