In the past it has been attacked for pandering to certain vested interests. It is criticised for being all things to all men and not focusing on the specific needs of one stakeholder – employer– member – trustee.
It has been through a bad time in the past few years with falling revenues , high costs and challenges from commercial organisations who have moved into its space – especially in the organisation of conferences.
Nevertheless it has kept going and it’s recently brought in a raft of new faces, embraced new technologies and accepted the inevitable – that the way that pensions are delivered in the UK has and will continue to change.
I’m standing for its Benefit Council and if you haven’t yet voted and have a vote, please put me on your paper. That the NAPF are prepared to put me on the ballot paper shows that they are changing for the better!
I’m not sure if I’ll do a great job but I’ll do my best. The need for the NAPF to change is obvious but it’s doing so – new good people – new initiatives that compliment and not replace traditional activities.
The NAPF’s focus is changing too. They have always struggled about who they represent. When employers and their trustee boards had interests which were aligned, the question was dormant but since we’ve seen the two stakeholders polarised, the question has become critical.
In my view the NAPF need to represent the interests of the member and should, where disputes arise, be on the side of resolution. It’s strength is that it can embrace the interests of members, their representatives – both trustees and unions, and the sponsoring employers.
If the NAPF can continue to tread the tightrope and keep all these factions at the table, it will have done something through a voluntary group that no Governmental organisation could hope to do.
We dismiss the NAPF at our peril, their strength is their membership and whether I make the Retirement Benefit Council or not, I will continue to big them up
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