With only 3 weeks to go until the Trustee Knowledge and Understanding (TKU) Code of Practice is fully in effect, less than 18% of scheme trustees have implemented any form of web based knowledge management tools.

The Code of Practice on Trustee Knowledge and Understanding comes into effect on 6 October 2006. The Pensions Regulator issued the results of their governance survey this month. The Regulator’s survey revealed that only 18% of schemes had implemented any form of web based knowledge sharing tools for members or trustees.

This is backed up by eShare’s own research which highlighted usage of knowledge management tools as less than 15% and by research conducted by Alexander Forbes Trustee Services which suggests that two out of five trustees are failing to meet the TKU requirements.

Whilst almost all schemes had taken some steps to improve trustee knowledge, the Regulator highlighted “Scope for Improvement” in knowledge levels.

“With only 3 weeks left, it appears we simply are not ready to comply with the code of practice, as we are lacking in the tools necessary to meet the requirements.

In the pensions industry today there is simply too much information for any individual to know or learn." says Alister Esam, CEO of eShare. "It seems we are trying to pump more and more information into trustees’ heads and expecting them to absorb it. This is not the way people work any more."

"When people talk about knowledge today, the most valuable knowledge resource people have is their research capabilities. This means the web and other knowledge management tools,” says Esam. "We have amazing forms of technology which can manage that knowledge and deliver precisely the knowledge a user needs. The Regulator isn’t going to let us turn our back on that”

A full copy of The Pension Regulator’s Governance Survey can be found at http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/pdf/opSchemeGovernanceReport01.pdf

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