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OPDU Report 24 - May 2008 Bulletin Board The Pensions Archive Trust and the City of London-London Metropolitan Archives celebrated the establishment of the Pensions Archive at a reception in the Guildhall Art Gallery sponsored by Merrill Lynch on 7 February. Guests from the world of pensions and the City of London were received by Stephen Quilter, Chairman of the Libraries, Archive and Guildhall Art Gallery Committee of the City of London Corporation and Alan Herbert, Chairman of The Pensions Archive Trust. Phil Wynn Owen, Director General of Pensions at the Department for Work and Pensions, standing in for Mike O’Brien, Minister of State for Pensions Reform, was the guest speaker. In his address of welcome Stephen Quilter said:
For the first time this information will be available in one place with electronic catalogues on the internet. Researchers, employers, pension fund trustees, trade unions, civil servants, pension professionals, academics and students, journalists and anyone who likes, will be welcome to come and use these collections. It is also our intention to evangelise, to go and tell people of all ages about the importance of having pensions, how they should be started at an early age and how they should be nurtured and protected. We will do this through our already active education programme with schools and young people, linking into the national curriculum where ever possible, but we will also explore doing this in innovative and challenging new ways too. Pension provision has changed our society profoundly over the last 150 years and undoubtedly for the greater good. History however reminds us that it is a privilege we should respect, safeguard and continually seek to improve. The launch of the partnership between the City of London and the Pensions Archive Trust is I believe part of the way we will preserve our history to enable us to improve the future.” In his speech Phil Wynn Owen said: The work of the Trust is a very important basis for furthering our collective knowledge of pensions. And it is a testament to the strength and ingenuity of the pensions industry that you have set up and supported such a private pension archive. As someone who was originally a historian, I believe passionately that preserving and properly under-standing the past allows us to learn useful lessons for the future. This is particularly important with pensions because they are products with such long lives. Decisions made today may not have consequences for another 40 years. So it is important that they are well informed. And that we learn lessons from the history of pensions – both positive and negative, the highs and lows. So I welcome this partnership and the formation of a centre of excellence for pensions history. It will enable:
Any study of pensions history will show how vital the pensions industry is to the wealth and prosperity of our country. In the UK, more so than in many other countries, private provision forms a significant part of many individual’s pensions. In 2005, the total value of pension funds in the UK was approaching £1 trillion, about two thirds of GDP. The Government recognises the great importance of this industry. Ministers are determined to support and help create the circumstances for the expansion of this existing provision. You will all know that the pensions industry faces challenges. We have seen the shift away from Defined Benefit schemes. In 1967, there were about 8 million active members of private DB schemes. In the late 1980s, this had fallen to around 5 million. Today there are just over 3 million. In part this has been offset by a rise in Defined Contribution provision. But in the face of vast increases in longevity and increasing costs, some schemes have simply closed. The Government wants to encourage good existing provision to stay open. It wants to send a clear message to employers with good DB schemes, we want you to continue. But there is no magic bullet solution. So Ministers are currently taking through some significant measures in Parliament to reduce burdens on current schemes. They offer the prospect of significant savings for current schemes. And we will continue to examine other measures to ease burdens on schemes, as part of our rolling deregulatory review. So where the Government can help existing schemes, it will seek to do so. But it is not just the Government who can help. The pensions industry is itself playing a role to develop new and innovative methods of pension provision. We very much welcome this. Innovation is crucial if we are to adapt to our changing society It is important that you as the experts continue to drive market led solutions that benefit all. But, of course, risks will always need to be appropriately managed. That is why we launched the Pensions Regulator and the Pension Protection Fund. They both do vital jobs in ensuring that any new business models are fair to members and provide a safety net when things go wrong. All while ensuring their actions are proportionate and responsible, seeking to benefit the industry, not penalise it. So we all seek to ensure that the relationship between the DWP, the Pensions Regulator, the Pensions Protection Fund and the industry is built on a shared understanding that private pensions are crucial to the wealth of the nation. They enable millions to save for a better retirement. And we all want to see them go from strength to strength. For many, a private pension already forms a solid bedrock of retirement income. But despite the historic efforts of the industry and the Government, there are still around 7 million people who are currently not saving for retirement. Many are on low to middle incomes and do not have access to good workplace pension provision. The Government is determined to provide these people with a readily available, cost effective way to save for retirement. So it is currently taking action through a Pensions Reform Bill, currently going through Parliament, to give such people the opportunity to take responsibility and save for their retirement. This will see the introduction of auto-enrolment for all employees, a mandatory employer contribution and the creation of the Personal Accounts Scheme. Personal Accounts will be carefully aimed at the target market so that they complement current provision. By 2015 we expect to see:
A massive transformation of the pensions landscape, growing the market and providing many more opportunities for all concerned. Crucially, these proposals have broad support from many, many stake-holders including many in the industry, trade unions and consumer groups. We are very grateful for the on-going support of many people here today. And we look forward to continued close working as we seek to get the details right in the coming months and years. It is perhaps fitting that this historic piece of legislation is
being debated in Parliament a century after the birth of the first
State pension in 1908. Albeit that Lloyd George’s Old Age Pension
Act of 1908 paid a means-tested pension of 5s a week Someone once remarked: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. A deeper engagement with and understanding of the past will enable us to take the responsibility to better plan for the future. So we are delighted that the Pensions Archive Trust is joining up with London Metropolitan Archives. It will enable you to significantly expand on the important work you have undertaken so far. I both welcome this and look forward to seeing the benefits of your progress in coming years.” In responding to Stephen Quilter’s and Phil Wynn Owen’s speeches Alan Herbert paid tribute to Alastair Ross Goobey, the first President of The Pensions Archive Trust who had sadly died five days earlier. Speaking of Alastair’s support for the project he said: “Alastair had taken a considerable interest in the idea of a pensions archive from the outset and attended the inaugural meeting of the Steering Group in January 2003 to discuss establishing an archive to record the history of the development of occupational and personal pension provision in this country. We were keen to record the part which his father, the late George Ross Goobey, had played in developing the cult of equity investment among pension funds in the 1950s when he was Manager of the Imperial Tobacco Pension Fund. Alastair travelled to his family home in Somerset and recovered from the garage a number of his father’s key papers written fifty years previously. At that time he was recommending to the Trustees of the Imperial Fund that not only should they put new money into equities but also sell gilts and other fixed interest stocks so that the Fund would be eventually 100% invested in equities and property. His mother kindly donated the papers to the Trust and they are now safely lodged in the Pensions Archive and available for public access. There are still other papers which Alastair was planning to recover and I hope that the Pensions Archive will have the opportunity to do this. We were delighted and honoured when Alastair, despite his many other commitments, accepted our invitation to become the first President of The Pensions Archive Trust on its formation in 2005. Subsequently on 27 October 2005 he gave the inaugural Ross Goobey Lecture at the Cass Business School and launched the appeal to raise funds for the establishment and running of the Pensions Archive. I was pleased to have had the opportunity that evening of placing on
record the considerable contribution that Alastair himself When I was in contact with Alastair last month I reminded him that
we would like to place his papers I hope we also will be successful in achieving this. It is therefore very appropriate tonight that we have come together to celebrate the launch of a partnership between London Metropolitan Archives and The Pensions Archive Trust establishing the Pensions Archive.” A growing number of collections have been received into the Pensions
Archive and there are a number |
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