David Butcher
It is extremely important that we hear more from David Butcher. The good news is that he is now at Scottish Widows and on both its IGC Committee and Master Trust Board.
Stephanie Hawthorne has drawn an accurate portrait of the Silver Drummer, (as he is affectionately known).
You can read Stephanie’ article in Pension Expert here , but if you aren’t a subscriber, here’s what makes him an outstanding fiduciary
Mr Butcher believes master trusts of the future need to become much more strategic, much more focused on outcomes, and in order to do that they need to become far more proactive.
He also thinks consolidation is far from finished in the sector. “On a five to 10-year view it could be down to 15 to 20. On a 10-year view it could be down to 10.”
With his other hat on, he is a believer in the role of IGCs, which he considers being “a force for good”. However, he considers these bodies need to focus more on outcomes.
“IGCs need to focus much more on how they access value for money and need to be a bit more precise and specific about that,” he says.
“I think there is a bit too much distance between the output of the IGC and the customers themselves. Bridging that gap is going to be a top priority in the next few years.”
David is right, understanding a pension’s Value for Money doesn’t just matter to IGCs and Trustees , it matters to all of the 32m people depending on their workplace pensions.
This week I have been likening the value for money reports produced by IGCs and Trustees to those claims of motor manufacturers for the MPGs of their cars
The trouble with those MPG numbers were they never quite happened when you were driving.
What mattered to me when I used to depend on my car was what it cost to fill up my tank and how often I had to pull into the petrol station.
Nowadays it is different, we can see how our car is drinking gas and do something to improve the miles we get for our gallon.
Real time information that is personal to us , puts drivers in charge.
David Butcher has always been able to make corporate pensions exciting and relevant to sponsors. Now he has the chance to make them exciting and relevant to the savers whose interest he represents.
We wish him luck.
