The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association has published a guide to help employers and trustees of defined contribution schemes provide member support on how to access a pension. The guide comes as the government is set to bring in a legal requirement on schemes to offer decumulation services.

The PLSA put together the guide, DC Scheme Guidance on Retirement Arrangements and Partnerships, ahead of the government putting a duty on pension funds to offer retirement services for members in the new pension schemes bill.   

It is currently unusual for schemes to offer decumulation services themselves, but it is anticipated that own trust schemes will partner with master trusts or other providers to comply with the future requirement.  

“Trustees want to help savers make better choices about how they access their pension in retirement, but several barriers remain. It is vital that the government and regulators continue to engage with the pensions industry to ensure that the incoming legislation – and ongoing FCA rules – meet the needs of schemes and savers,” said Ruari Grant, senior policy lead at the PLSA.  

The PLSA said the guide, created in partnership with law firm Eversheds Sutherland and consultancy LCP, aims to help trustees and employers with own trust schemes to manage the legal, regulatory and commercial issues connected with such partnership arrangements.   

In addition, it “highlights areas of focus for the government and regulators to make the partnership process simpler and more accessible”.  

For trustees to be confident about their obligations in relation to a partnership arrangement, the statutory framework should confirm when trustees’ legal responsibility ends and provide a statutory discharge, the PLSA argues, subject to trustees implementing and reviewing the suitability of the retirement provision and partnership arrangement.  

The document also calls for more guidance from the Department for Work and Pensions and the Pensions Regulator on the communications, guidance and risk warnings around decumulation, specifically around “how tailored schemes’ messages can and should be”, and in how far schemes can provide behavioural nudges to members based on limited information about what people in similar situations typically do.   

The guide comes as the Financial Conduct Authority is reviewing the boundary between guidance and financial advice. At the same time, a new value for money framework will seek to measure the service quality of schemes, alongside performance and costs.