No matter how often political sparring is proved a turnoff for voters, it’s a necessary part of the process and an accepted piece of theatre.
The run-up to a general election is a concentrated display of this, and last week saw the UK’s hopefuls setting out their stalls on what they can offer the Great British public.
Manifesto after manifesto was slowly unfurled as the week went on, culminating in Thursday’s TV debate in which the opposition party leaders publicly wooed each other to create allegiances while escaping the grip of others.
While the winner – or rather winners – of the election is of inevitable importance the pensions industry, it must seem like a bit of a sideshow given the game-changing year it’s had, the true results of which are as yet unknown and still taking shape.
Illustration by Ben Jennings
However, the manifestos do include proposals for further changes to pensions.
Though the ‘how’ is different for each of the main parties, all three seem to be clear on the ‘why’ when it comes to fixing pension tax relief – namely that it is expensive, disproportionately benefits the wealthy and does little to incentivise pension saving – and each has expressed a desire to take a fresh look at the structure.
In January we blogged about an anticipated change to the pension tax relief structurethis year, and it looks increasingly likely a firm proposal will be heard before 2015 is out.
That aside, the election isn’t the only competition in town to pique the interest of the pensions industry. Last week saw the unveiling of the shortlist for our Pension & Investment Provider Awards, to be held on May 20 in London.
The industry has faced one of its most challenging years in recent times and it was fascinating to see a snapshot of the main players in flux as they position themselves to respond to the new environment.
There were certainly some standout performers to whom we look forward to giving credit on the night. But there was also a strong sense of industry-wide collaboration across many of the categories, proving that picking your partners carefully can sometimes deliver better-than-expected outcomes.
It seems our opposition party leaders have a good grasp of this idea too.
Maxine Kelly is acting editor at Pensions Expert. You can follow her on Twitter @MaxineEK and the team @pensions_expert.
