The Government is making it clear that it will not tolerate any more back-sliding out of the Accord for the 17 who’ve signed up. This from the FT
Treasury officials confirmed that a new pension schemes bill, expected in the summer, would give ministers a reserve “mandating power to set binding asset allocations”.
They said details would follow, but the backstop power would include “guardrails to protect savers’ interests” and would be time-limited. “There could be a sunset clause,” one official said.
The idea of “mandation” is strongly resisted by the industry and Reeves said on Tuesday she thought that it would never be needed, but the threat alone has irritated some in the City of London.
The idea that Government would bind the Accord 17 to the mast is one thing but what about all the other commercial pension providers , trustees of of sole – employer schemes and the insurers and SIPP providers who get all the tax breaks that make their pensions attractive but who are showing very little interest in “home” investing. “Home” in this sense means home country not at home investment or investing in residential homes!
As I pointed out yesterday, the amount of money held by the Accord 17 is only a small part of the amount tax-advantaged in the UK and if they are to be held to account, what about those who don’t sign up? Here’s an indignant investor
“One of the points we insisted on is that there be no mandation,” said Benoit Hudon, chief executive of Mercer UK, one of the signatories of a new Mansion House Accord
It looks like the Accord think themselves an exclusive club who will have all the advantage of the badge but none of the responsibilities.
Hudon added that the point was “critical to us because if you force everyone to move to the UK, creating all that demand, it may be that just by virtue of market forces, you end up paying too much for something”.
I am not quite sure what is being said here but I think that the worry is commercial. If the idea of investing along the lines of the Accord is to become prevalent throughout pensions then the nice cachet of Accord player becomes meaningless.
There are many issues like this to be ironed out and I’m glad that Nick Lyons, Chair of Phoenix and long-time friend of this blog, will be appearing on Tuesday.
Coffee Morning – In conversation with Sir Nicholas Lyons Attending CPD included
May 20, 2025 10:30 am London
You are cordially invited to attend our next Playpen Session –
“In conversation with Sir Nicholas Lyons”.
In recent weeks there has been much news coverage and debate regarding the Mansion House Accord unlocking of DB/DC Fund assets to invest in the UK Private Market. Many people agree with this concept and some do not! …Which side do you take?
In this session Henry Tapper will be asking Sir Nicholas some key questions on this subject and there will be considerable scope for debate plus Q&A?
Sir Nicholas is Chairman of the Phoenix Group and was past Mayor of London in 2022 – 2023.
We hope you can join.
If you prefer not to cut and paste you can simply click this link at 10.30 next Tuesday 20th May.
