On the go: The Pensions Administration Standards Association has issued guidance on ‘value data’ for pension dashboards, advising providers that this “complex” area of the dashboard programme will require additional backend calculations and preparedness.
Value data is the term used to describe accrued and projected pension values and will be a central component of the pensions dashboard.
“Value data is a complex section of the dashboards ‘view request’ as it requires additional calculations to produce accrued and/or projected values, said PASA chair Kim Gubler.
“It’s essential pensions administrators understand what is required for their scheme to adhere to pensions dashboard regulations.”
Recent research undertaken by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Money and Pensions Service showed that prospective users expect to see information about income projections with accompanying graphs and charts.
Gubler continued: “In order to solve these challenges, it will require discussion between all relevant stakeholders, with certain data value types demanding further input from other parties (eg AVCs) – the earlier these conversations start happening, the better prepared you will be for your staging date.”
Within the draft pensions dashboard regulations, the Department for Work and Pensions proposed a requirement on schemes to provide both accrued and projected values, including values that represent annual income amounts.
PASA’s guidance includes a checklist and further details on understanding value data requirements, including whether providers must review any existing automation of calculations for accrued entitlements and the quality of data available.
The guidance encourages providers to clarify whether value data for accrued entitlements are currently being administered manually, automatically or a combination of both — or whether accrued entitlements are calculated or stored away from their administration platforms.
It also told providers to get to grips with the level of automation they currently have on their administration platforms for the purpose of determining accrued entitlements.
The checklist includes information on how to create an action plan, including the provision of accrued entitlements and estimated retirement income benefits, as well as communicating with parties who will need to be involved with a provider’s action plan.
