Eight out of ten pensions experts thing the number of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes will fall from 5,500 today to below 4,000 in 10 years.
According to a poll held at a recent Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) annual conference, nearly half (48%) believed there could be fewer than 3,000 schemes in a decade.
And 89% said they would consider consolidating a single employer DB scheme into a DB master trust or DB superfund if they could be confident that scheme members would have the same, or better, chance of receiving their accrued benefits.
Joe Dabrowski, head of DB, LGPS and standards at PLSA, said: “It is disappointing there are no provisions in the pension schemes bill to establish a statutory authorisation regime for superfunds.
“Under strong governance, robust capital buffers and the appropriate affordable supervisory regime, superfunds have the potential to strengthen the security of the millions of savers in DB schemes whose sponsoring employers face an uncertain future.”
