APTIA PENSIONS ADMINISTRATION POD EPISODE 1

John Wilson 

Welcome to the Aptia Pensions Administration Pod. I'm John Wilson, Aptia’s Head of Pensions Technical, and each month I'll be speaking with guests from Aptia and across the industry about key topics in pensions administration. At Aptia, we're the UK's largest private sector pensions administrator. Our role is to ensure that five million pension scheme members receive their benefits and have the support they need to make informed financial decisions. 

Pensions administration has never been more important. Through this podcast, we aim to shine a light on the challenges our industry faces as we carry out the vital work of looking after the UK's pension savers. 

This month we're kicking off with one of the biggest issues facing pension schemes, imminently, and that is pension dashboards. And I'm pleased to be joined by my colleague Eileen Carr and also Chris Curry from the Pensions Dashboards Programme. We should probably begin with maybe just a bit more formal introduction so Eileen would you like to go first please?

Eileen Carr

Yes, thank you John. So I'm Eileen Carr and I'm head of Pensions Dashboards at Aptia. My responsibility is the readiness activities, the journey up to and including connection and life thereafter for all the administration purposes.

John

Lovely, thank you Eileen and thank you very much for joining us. Chris, do you want to say a bit more about the Pensions Dashboards Programme and your role?

Chris Curry

Hi John, hi Eileen, hello everyone. Thanks very much for inviting me to be on the podcast, delighted to be here. The Pensions Dashboards Programme is the part of the Money and Pensions Service which is responsible for creating the infrastructure for pensions dashboards in the UK. My role as part of the programme is as industry principal so I try and provide that link between the programme and the industry to make sure that everything we do is going to work with the industry going forward, that we listen to industry and can take that feedback back into the programme as well. I've been doing the role for somewhere over five years now, so I’m looking forward to dashboards becoming a reality.

John

It's becoming very real very soon and that was really the reason that we were so pleased that you could join us today, Chris. Here we are just a couple of months to go until schemes start to connect to the Money and Pension Service dashboard. The master trusts, the personal pension providers and then the large defined contribution schemes. So I wanted to talk just about the readiness of this first cohort. And maybe Eileen, I can begin with you for our experience at Aptia because I believe that we will have a number of schemes in that first wave.

Eileen

We do, John. We have three schemes connecting in April and over the course of the year we have circa 150 or so schemes. So we've got a lot of projects in flight at the moment. The focus is very much on the readiness activities, ensuring that the schemes have cleansed the data to ensure that we can maximise the number of members that will match when it comes to connection. And also the creation of the value and non-value data items. 

So there's a lot of work ongoing and we are ready for the three schemes which are connected in April. In order to do that, we do have to finalise our integration testing with PDP and that's currently ongoing and we're hoping to have it completed by the end of March.

John

Lovely, thanks, Eileen and Chris. So we have three of what I'm sure are many schemes due to connect to it in April. How do you feel everything is going in terms of the wider industry?

Chris

Obviously working with the industry is really important for the programme and we spend a lot of time making sure that not only are we working with the group of 20 or so volunteer participants, so those are the ones who are building a direct connection into our ecosystem, and we've been working very hard with them over the last few months as Eileen's been saying to make sure that as many as possible are ready for April. 

But at the same time, we talk to the rest of industry. We have a big engagement programme, work closely with providers and schemes to make sure that they're ready for that part of the connection as well. We've been doing lots of to understand their readiness. We've been sharing lots of information to help them get prepared. So we have guidance which goes out there as well as the regulations in order to make sure that people know what their regulatory requirements are and responsibilities. 

But actually, anecdotally we're hearing that the vast majority of schemes are looking to connect in line with the guidance that was published in March last year. So that does mean that first cohort will be ready to connect at the end of April. And really, I guess that the big deadline we're working to is 31 October 2026. And we are very, very confident that all schemes will have the opportunity to connect well in advance of that date.

John

Well, that is good news. Thank you both. So there’s a lot going on just now and, as we've discussed already, it's all becoming very, very real. I just wanted to talk a little bit about the support that's out there for trustees and managers. We have the regulations, we have the standards. Are you expecting that all these standards will be enforced from April? Is there anything missing? Are we expecting any further regulations that will impact dashboards and scheme duties?Chris, maybe one for you.

Chris

We've been doing a lot in this space and hopefully people will have throughout last year we did quite a lot of work on finalising as much as we could those updated versions of the standards for providers and schemes that are really the kind of rules to help interpret the regulations. They kind of give guidance and [help] people understand how they need to operate in order to fulfil their duties under the regulations. And so last year we published updated versions of data standards, of technical standards, the reporting standards and the code of connection. So those that are really supporting the connection journey we're going through at the moment. 

And some really good and hot off the press news is that those standards have now been formally approved by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. They now become part of the regulatory framework and we're expecting that will bring some stability into those particular standards. That doesn't mean that they're going to be fixed forever. We expect that they will evolve over time as we learn more information from the people and the schemes who are connecting and from testing that we do with consumers as well. So things will evolve but they'll have to follow a set process and that process is being developed at the moment and will be published on our website with what we're doing there. 

There is one set of standards that we haven't finalised yet which is the design standards which look at the dashboard end of the ecosystem rather than the connection end of doing that and we'll be looking at those probably throughout the rest of this year as we start some user testing with citizens to help understand what people can and can't understand or what they see and what they do and don't want to do from dashboard. So we'll be using all of that. 

There's lots of guidance alongside standards that we put out there so we've got a connection on the website, the PDP website that people should look at to find that information. Plenty of articles, videos on there. I'm sure a number of listeners will have heard me speak at conferences and maybe got tired of hearing me say the same things, but we're out there as much as we can to try and help people get the information that they need in order to connect. And it's not just coming from us. So there are organisations such as PASA [the Pensions Administration Standards Association] who publish some really good guidance in different areas, and the regulators also have good information on their websites.

John

That is good news to see these standards getting the formal approval and officially becoming part of the regulatory framework. I know that Eileen and I have been following them very closely along with the information from PASA, which has been very useful in areas like additional voluntary contributions [AVCs], which has been a tricky point for some of the schemes that we've been involved in. I've heard you speak about AVCs as well, Chris. 

So maybe on that note, we're still getting lots of questions on behalf of schemes that we'll need to connect. And if I can turn to you, Eileen, we see some common themes there in terms of the sort of issues that people are still looking for some additional support on. Do you want to speak to that a little bit, please?

Eileen

Yes, sure, John. Two common issues that spring to mind that come up quite regularly when speaking to trustees about the connection journey. One is about AVCs and the approach that's been taken with providers. At Aptia we are linking in with all of the AVC providers to discuss their approach to ascertain how we will work with them on behalf of the trustees to connect values. 

I know TPR [The Pensions Regulator] are also planning to meet with some of the providers to help to unblock some of the challenges and that again is welcome because it helps to ensure that there's more focus and we can get a process in place. In addition, there remains uncertainty when a scheme is on the derisking journey. And when I say the uncertainty, I think it's more so from a trustee perspective on the process which they should be [following]. However, again, recently working with TPR, they have provided further guidance and clarity which we've been able to share with trustees so that they understand the responsibility that they have and the steps that they have to take. It's part of that derisking journey.

John

Thanks Eileen. That’s a common theme and I'm sure you come across it as well, Chris. We get told: “The plan is to buy this scheme out within the next 12, 18, 20 months, 24 months. Do we need to do anything about dashboards?” And our response to that has been to say please have a look at the regulator guidance. So many things can go wrong with risk transfer exercises and you really have to have a plan in place to make sure that you can comply with these duties if the scheme is still around at your connection date and maybe even more importantly at the legal end date of October 2026. Is that essentially what your position would be as well, Chris?

Chris

That's absolutely right. The regulations are clear: if you are a scheme which is within the scope of the regulations as of 31 October 2026, then you need to be connected by the 31 October 2026. And as you say, even if you're planning to have completed that journey that may be underway already, if it's not underway already, then I think there is a big question mark as to whether it is completed by the end of this regulatory period. If at any time you think you're not going to be able to complete that journey then the regulations will be enforced and you will have to comply with those regulations. So definitely keep in touch the regulator about that. They will be helpful, they will give you the information you need and there is already information published. But yeah you need to be aware of the regulatory position and it is relatively clear.

John

I think it's really good that we're seeing such a consistent message coming from PDP, from the regulator and from practitioners as well. The regulator will be pragmatic, but if you've just chosen to ignore these duties, then it's not right that you should expect a lot of sympathy.

Chris

Absolutely.

John

Okay, so we've spoken a little bit about the position from schemes and trustees managers, but of course the schemes and providers can't connect to dashboards without the help of service providers, in particular digital interfaces. So I just wanted to speak a little bit about integrated service providers [ISPs]. Maybe you first, Chris, if you could say a little bit more about ongoing work with ISPs and whether there's things to be resolved there.

Chris

Actually this has been one of the most positive parts of the programme, I think, from my experience. Working with the 20 or so volunteer providers that I mentioned earlier, some of which are ISPs, integrated service providers, some of which are administrators, some of which are bigger schemes directing connectively to what we're doing. But we started work with them really in earnest on the connection journey back in August last year. So it's taken time to get through and I’m pleased to say that all of the volunteer participants have begun their connection journeys at various stages – and the first three pathfinders as we call them have completed the final stages of testing so they've gone right the way through from the first stages in the pre-registration process all the way through to operational acceptance testing. 

And so they've actually completed all the tests and are now in position to begin onboarding schemes into the live environment for pensions dashboards. And with the publication of the standards earlier that means that it’s now possible for us to start moving into the next phase of bringing live schemes into the environment and having real people able to be found by a pensions dashboard going forward. So it's been really positive that we've been able to do that and that we're doing that ahead of April – and this means that large parts of the industry will be able to get underway and meet that end of April deadline for that first cohort. 

I think it's really important to say that we're learning a lot still as we go through. It's not the sort of thing that you kind of set off in August and we're still doing the same processes now. Every scheme that goes through has raised slightly different challenges and we've learned from those previously so we're starting to accelerate that progress as we go through and I think we'll take that learning through into what happens when we get into the actual connection journeys as well. So hopefully as we go through this process over the next 18 months or so it will become easier and easier for schemes to find their way into the ecosystem. 

It also means that we can update our guidance. It means that we can give more information and help people prepare better as well. It's important that people are aware of what we're doing so that when it does come around to being their turn they've got more of an idea of how things will work.

John

Yeah, that is absolutely great news that some people have gone through the complete end-to-end process and we know it works, which bodes well and as you say, means that there are lessons that can be learned. And that's maybe an opportune time to hand back to you, Eileen. We're a little bit different in that we've chosen not to use a third-party ISP. We have developed our own digital interface which we call the data warehouse. Do you want to say just a little bit about our thinking there and where we are in terms of our expectations on connecting to the ecosystem?

Eileen

Yeah, sure. As you mentioned, we have invested in building our infrastructure so that we can connect our clients in the scheme’s direct ecosystem. And the good news is that internally it's all been signed off. We're ready to go. We’re currently undertaking our external IT health checks and as I mentioned earlier, we're undertaking the integration. It's great news that the pathfinders have all completed the end-to-end journey and it does make it a lot smoother for us who have came in the second and third cohorts. So we're quite positive with where we're at and with the time and with integration testing and as I mentioned PDP are working closely with us so that we can progress on that journey as quickly as possible. So the message out there is we are ready to go. It's just completed this last check with integration testing so we can then move forward with the connection of the first schemes.

John

Great progress is being made and probably what we need to do now in terms of all stakeholders for dashboards is keep that momentum going. Things are looking great, Chris, in terms of legal end-date for connection of 31 October 2026. It seems we should be quite positive in terms of an early dashboard availability point [DAP]. It's the $64,000 question, Chris, and I know you don't have an exact answer right now how are you feeling about the DAP at this point in time?

Chris

Firstly, I think you're absolutely right. We are definitely well on track for that 31 October 2026 legal deadline. I don't think we have any concerns about that. Just to speak up on what Eileen was saying and to follow on a little bit about the journey that we're going through with the voluntary participants. I mean, it is going very, very well and schemes are making their way through that. However, as I said at the turn of the year, there might be circumstances in which not every one of our voluntary participants has been able to do that full connection by the time that their first schemes need to be on boarded at the end of April and that is absolutely fine. 

So we're looking at this as the key deadline is 31 October 2026. If some of the connections don't happen for a week, a week or two, a month or so until after the guidance that's still absolutely fine, but we would encourage all of the schemes to be ready to connect at that date and to make sure you're able to. And I'm confident that by the time we get into the summer, we'll be back on track with everybody ready and everything going through as planned as we go through. But there's a lot that we need to do before we can be really confident about when dashboards are going to be made available to the public and in particular the launch of the Money Helper dashboard, the connection journey that we're talking about now. 

Making sure that we've got good coverage of pension schemes and pension scheme memberships is really important and if people connect in line with the guidance we should have about 90% of those memberships including the state pension before we get to the end of this year, so that's a really good base for us to have to make sure that people can find their pensions. But what we also need to do is to make sure that the Money Helper dashboard is easy to understand, the operating systems and the environment it's operating in is safe and secure and that people have a really good user experience. 

One of the most important things we're doing this year after we've got the connection underway and we're working on a whole series of user testing which is likely to start in the summer and where we will slowly build up the numbers of real users who will … the Money Helper dashboard at their own information. So their own state pension entitlement, their own pension scheme entitlement through a scheme that they're testing with and potentially other schemes that they find as they go through as well and that's really going to give us that insight into how people will react when they see the pensions dashboard. 

What are they going to ask for? What are they going to understand? What are those next steps likely to be and what implications that might have for the industry? And so we need to spend some time going through all of that to really understand how good the consumer experience is going to be and then give notice to make sure that the industry is ready to pick up that experience because we know that people are likely to want to do something else once they've seen the dashboard. And so we're expecting there to be quite a big uptick in industry activity around engagement when people start to look at their dashboards. 

We want to make sure that everything is ready so that when dashboards are launched, once we've given notice to the industry, the industry is then ready to pick up what happens that follows up from that as well to give an overall end-to-end journey that's really positive for consumers. So we need to do that testing. That will be starting in earnest probably in the summer and going throughout the rest of this year and into 2026. Once we've got the feedback from that testing, we'll then be in a much better position to be able to determine when the right time to make the Money Helper dashboard available to everybody is going to be. But there will be, I would expect, potentially tens of thousands of individuals who will be using the dashboard for testing before the end of this year.

John

I think that kind of resonates with us at Aptia, Eileen. Our message has consistently been that everything is on track and that people need to engage with us. Is there anything that you would add to that kind of call to arms?

Eileen

I think it's the timeline that it takes, and there's going to be a great deal of work that has to still be completed across the industry so that it is important to engage early in the process. So even though some of the connection dates may be in 2026, we would encourage trustees and pension managers to be engaged early in the process. And at Aptia, again, we're working with our client directors to ensure that they're armed with information that's required and supporting trustees with any questions that they have at the start of the process.

John

Thanks, Eileen, and maybe, Chris, I can just finish with you: any closing remarks or key takeaways that you would want to come out with this podcast?

Chris

I think it's really positive. We've spoken a lot about the progress that's been made and a lot of progress has been made over the past six months or so in terms of the connection. And we've got some clarity as well about where we're likely to be going forward, although there's still obviously a lot more that we can provide in terms of clarity. We've talked about when the Money Helper dashboard is going to be launched and that's something which we're still working on and working through to give more information about in the future. 

I think the key lessons at the moment are that is working. It's being refined as we go through as well. The fact that we've got people connected is brilliant. The fact that all the other voluntary participants and most of the direct connections that we're going to have will likely be completed very shortly – I think is really positive as well. But there's still a long way to go before we get to an actual dashboard launch. And it's really important that we keep working and the whole industry keeps working together to make sure that when that happens, we give the best possible experience for the people who want to find out information about their pensions.

John

Absolutely, Look, thank you very much both. Really, really useful. I’m conscious of time. So that is probably it for this episode of the Aptia Pensions Administration Pod. We will release a new episode every month on all major podcast platforms. So hopefully you've enjoyed today's session. Be sure to subscribe and stay updated. 

In the meantime, please do remember that the content provided in this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice. It should not be relied upon for any purpose. And we strongly recommend seeking appropriate professional advice tailored to your own specific circumstances before making any decisions based on this information. Thank you.