The UK is in the middle of a pensions and retirement revolution, according to pensions minister Baroness Ros Altmann.

Speaking at the annual Pensions Management Institute (PMI) conference in London, Baroness Altmann said radical reform throughout the industry, from state to private pensions, has contributed to the exciting new landscape.

Discussing the recent and forthcoming changes, Baroness Altmann said: "The introduction of the flat rate pension is a good thing because it's more sustainable, affordable and suitable for a society which, going forward, will be required to do much more for themselves."

"It is something people can understand, plan for, and it gives some hope of actually predicting the income they might get in retirement."

While auto-enrolment has brought six million more individuals into the pensions system, we are still only a fraction of the way through the process – with approximately 90% of employers still to go through it, she said.

"This will bring a further three million savers into the system and over the next few years we expect pension contributions to quadruple and the full auto enrolment project to complete in 2019."

Baroness Altman said the numbers brought with them a big responsibility to people working in the pensions industry and stressed the importance of people above money.

She said: "While we must come up with solutions and systems, we must also make sure we are empowering people to be able to make decisions for themselves and plan for their unique retirement needs."

"We want and need people to have a good experience of pensions and ultimately a better standard of living, but we must be mindful that not everyone is equipped to make decisions – and we must help them."

Commenting on the perception of the pensions industry by the mainstream media, Baroness Altmann said it would take time to rebuild trust and counteract the negative image.

She said making pensions "engaging and accessible" would change this and motivate the public to save.

"I would love to see a big industry campaign that talks about great pensions," she said, "this is a really exciting time for the industry to come up with new and innovative products to meet the new demands."

First published 21.04.2016

Lindsay.sharman@wilmingtonplc.com