Pension experts quiz absence of bill on chancellor’s investment reforms

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Jeremy Hunt’s plans to unlock £50bn of retirement fund investment have been left “in limbo” after the UK government did not include a pensions bill in the legislative agenda it presented on Tuesday, industry experts warned.

The UK chancellor has in recent months unveiled a series of new measures to boost pensioner incomes as well as stimulate the economy, including a pact with nine big UK pension funds to invest more in private assets.

Hunt has said his so-called Mansion House reform package could channel £50bn of new pension investment in the UK by 2030 and increase pensioner incomes by more than £1,000 a year for the average earner.

But a pensions bill to push forward the Mansion House reforms was “noticeably absent” from the King’s Speech, said Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, the investment managers.

“Such a bill was expected to advance this summer’s Mansion House reforms,” she said.

Morrissey added that the absence was “confusing” and meant that progress before the next general election would “effectively grind to a halt.”

One government official said a pensions bill was not included in the King’s Speech because of a lack of parliamentary time, but insisted that reforms could be carried out quickly by regulators working with the sector.

They conceded that legislation was needed in the longer term, but said that many of the so-called “Mansion House” pension reforms announced earlier this year did not require primary legislation.

“We set out our ambitious plans to improve retirement outcomes and investment opportunity as part of the July Mansion House announcements,” a government spokesman said. “We will be responding to these consultations in due course.”

Hunt’s wide-ranging Mansion House initiative includes proposals to speed up the consolidation of pension funds…