New tools to help pension schemes to deliver greater value for money for millions of savers have been launched this week by the Cost Transparency Initiative (CTI) – whose Board members include LGPS Central Limited’s CIO Jason Fletcher.
The tools comprise of templates and guidance for asset managers, and other suppliers of services to pension schemes, designed to enable them to report costs and charges in a standardised format.
They will allow pension scheme trustees to make clear costs and charges comparisons across their different investment management suppliers and asset classes. This in turn will make it easier for trustees to scrutinise and challenge costs and performance, and ensure savers are getting the best value for their investments.
Jason explains: “Fully transparent investment costs are a critical part of decision making for asset managers and their clients. Only by measuring costs properly can asset owners or fund managers truly understand the fees they will be paying and manage those costs.”
The tools cover the majority of pension scheme assets and are expected to be adopted by schemes, consultants and asset managers representing around £2 trillion in assets under management.
The CTI expects trustees to engage with their investment management suppliers immediately, and for asset managers to be in a position to report against December 2019 and April 2020 year-ends using the new tools.
The Cost Transparency Initiative
Launched in November 2018, the CTI was tasked with implementing, promoting and encouraging the use of the new cost transparency templates across the pensions and investment industries.
The templates and guidance are available to download from the CTI website here.