Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) stakeholders have issued a joint letter to the Minister for Pensions and Growth, in response to the recent Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) consultation on draft Occupational Pension Schemes Regulations.
The University and College Union (UCU) and Universities UK (UUK) joined USS in calling for the final Regulations (and the Pension Regulator’s forthcoming Code of Practice) to not take an overly restrictive approach that fails to take into account the unique structure of open, multi-employer pension schemes and the strength and nature of their employer covenants.
As drafted, the Regulations are overly restrictive to pension schemes that are open to new joiners, such as USS. The scheme’s stakeholders raised concerns that the draft Regulations could unintentionally force open pension schemes to implement actions which will unnecessarily drive-up costs and put members’ future benefits at risk. If the Regulations instead allowed pension schemes to factor appropriate levels of risk into their funding and investment strategy, schemes such as USS should be able to continue their exposure to growth-based assets for the benefit of both members and the broader economy.
The joint letter and the full USS response are available to download below.
