05 September 2006
A survey of pension scheme trustees by Baker Tilly suggests that
they are spending much more time getting to grips with the laws and
regulations under which pension schemes are administered.
The survey of trustees from 288 pension schemes found that the
percentage of trustees spending less than one hour each quarter
reading up on legislation and regulation has fallen to 2 per cent,
down from 64 per cent a year ago. This suggests that the 2004
Pensions Act is beginning to succeed in its objective of pushing
trustees to fill gaps in their understanding.
The Baker Tilly survey also found that the larger the scheme the
more studious its trustees, with 17 per cent of schemes with more
than 5,000 members spending more than 10 hours per quarter gaining
additional knowledge, against only 7 per cent of schemes last year.
Only 4 per cent of schemes with less than 100 members spend a
similar amount of time studying legislation.
The survey also suggests that trustees remain reliant on
professional advisers, with 91 per cent of trustees surveyed
viewing advisers are the best sources of information.
