There was a consensus at yesterday's eShare seminar on pensions governance yesterday that the standard of pensions governance in the UK has to be raised but to do this Trustees need to be given the tools to do the job.

eShare in conjunction with Microsoft held the seminar to increase awareness about pensions governance and the solutions schemes are putting in place. Speakers from the Treasury, OPRA, the NAPF and occupational schemes vigorously debated the new regulator's approach and the proposals from the Treasury.

All agreed that standards of governance had to improve and in a modern society transparency must be increased to protect member's interests.

"We see governance as the fundamental underlying issue in pensions today. Through better governance we improve our decision making and that has to be better for the members." concluded Alister Esam of eShare. "Through better governance we also manage risk and that is at the very foundation of restoring consumer confidence in occupational pensions."

It was clear that a key component of improving governance was improving the knowledge that Trustees have at their disposal. "At present the accountability of Trustees is increasing rapidly. The regulator is going to enforce higher standards through the codes of practice and accreditation schemes," said Esam, "Trustee training is only half the issue. Most Trustees don't have the tools they need. Schemes need to equip Trustees with systems providing access to the information they need to do their jobs and reassurance that the scheme is being well run."

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