Jeremy Hunt to hold pension fund talks as major reforms loom

Jeremy Hunt will hold talks on Wednesday with some of the pensions industry’s top executives weeks before he unveils reforms aimed at jumpstarting retirement funds’ investment in the UK economy.

Sky News understands that the chancellor will host a roundtable with companies including Aegon, Aviva and Scottish Widows.

The meeting will come a fortnight before the annual Mansion House dinner at which Mr Hunt will present a package of measures to bolster financial service’s competitiveness.

An industry source said the chancellor was expected to talk about his concern that returns for British pensioners are lower than international peers.

“The UK has £3tn of investable pension assets – even a small percentage being diverted into UK assets would boost growth and returns for policyholders,” the source said.

Treasury officials were considering regulatory changes to channel more UK pension fund investment into riskier companies such as start-ups, the Financial Times reported.

Mr Hunt is also considering rules aimed at driving consolidation among pension schemes in order to improve efficiency, the newspaper reported.

He is not, however, contemplating forcibly mandating specific investment allocations by pension trustees.

Wednesday’s meeting will also be attended by companies including Legal & General.

The Treasury has been contacted for comment, while none of the companies contacted by Sky News would comment.