Working Group (PDWG) – The Pensions Administration Standards Association

About

The PASA Pensions Dashboards Working Group (PDWG) includes representatives from across the PASA membership, including administrators, legal advisors, consultants, and technology providers. Representatives from MaPS PDP and TPR also attend PDWG meetings. The PDWG is Co-Chaired by Maurice Titley and Andrew Lowe from ITM (PASA Expert Partner for dashboards). The PASA Board Sponsor for the PDWG is PASA Chair, Kim Gubler, who is also a member of the PDP Industry Steering Group.

The PDWG was originally established in March 2017, to bring an administrative perspective to the ABI-led pensions dashboard prototype project. Since 2019, the PDWG has responded in detail to the various dashboards consultations from DWP, PDP, FCA and TPR (all responses are below for information).

Guidance

The core objective of the PDWG is to produce industry good practice Guidance to support trustees, scheme managers, administrators and providers with the various dashboards topics listed below. Some of this Guidance cross-refers to, or complements, the output of other PASA Working Groups, such as the Data Working Group and Master Trust Working Group.

Sub-Groups

In 2022, two sub-groups of the PDWG were set up, with separate but inter-related scopes:

The Scheme Configuration Sub-Group (SCSG) focuses on the process for schemes to onboard to the dashboards ecosystem, including configuration, commercial and contractual issues and the changes needed to ongoing services. Initial activity has focused on the development of a range of Guidance notes on good practice approaches to pension value data complexities s. The SCSG is Chaired by Geraldine Brassett from Willis Towers Watson

The Saver Experience Sub-Group (SESG) focuses on the need for Guidance for administrators in relation to the end-to-end experience of pension scheme members who use dashboards. Saver experience and behaviour is being considered at three stages of users’ overall journeys: before they use a dashboard, during their use of dashboards, and after they have used a dashboard. It’s expected the work of SESG will increase substantially once detailed, extensive user testing begins from later in 2023. The SESG is Chaired by Richard Smith, an independent consultant who is the PLSA’s Pensions Dashboards Consultant and who is also advising Moneyhub on their whitelabel commercial dashboard

PDWG Topics

These are the broad topics under which we have issued, or are planning to issue, guidance. Please see below for links to current guidance, and timescales for imminent upcoming guidance.

Governance
- Interaction with Trustees
- Management of costs
- Contractual issues

Data and matching
- Understanding and meeting the PDP Data Standards
- Matching criteria
- Preparing schemes for connection to the dashboards ecosystem

Pension values
- Process for calculating and updating pension values
- Handling benefit complexities
- Treatment of split administration and AVCs

Administrative issues
- Impact of dashboards on administration processes
- Members’ dashboards expectations and experiences
- Implications for administration post-dashboards