The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has recently welcomed a couple of new associate members… now the trade body opens its doors to workplace platforms.
On the same day of the ABI Annual Conference 2019, chair Amanda Blanc announced the arrival of Smart Pension – the first ever workplace platform member of the trade body. Blanc, who is also Zurich Insurance Group’s chief executive for EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa), described the unveiling as timely given the millions of people now auto-enrolled into a pension scheme.
“Smart Pension play an important role in enabling the continued growth of workplace pensions for the benefit of consumers, and I look forward to working together on our shared policy ambitions,” noted the insurance leader.
Set up in 2014, the technology-driven pension platform was designed to afford employers the ease in meeting their automatic workplace pension scheme enrolment needs.
“We are delighted to be joining the ABI at this crucial time for the ongoing development of our pension system,” commented Smart Pension co-founder and chief executive Andrew Evans. “Auto enrolment has achieved masses to date, but as an industry we’ve still got a lot to do to deliver really good outcomes for people.
“Key challenges remain around driving value for money and introducing at-retirement solutions that work for the mass market. We look forward to being part of the conversation that will drive that change.”
ABI director of policy, long-term saving, and protection Yvonne Braun, for her part, believes automatic enrolment has fundamentally changed the long-term savings market.
“As markets change, we are changing with them, and welcoming new members is a very important part of this,” she said. “Smart Pension will further strengthen the ABI’s voice in discussions with Government and regulators. We are excited to welcome Smart Pension on board.”
