In a survey of Trustees by governance systems provider eShare, it was found that whilst schemes believe their trustees are coping in the new regulatory environment, the trustees themselves are shouting for better tools to do their job.

Despite the Code of Practice on Knowledge and Understanding, only 21% of trustees have access to central scheme documentation resources to enable them to fulfil their responsibilities effectively. 37% rely on the Pensions Manager totally for all their information and astonishingly 33% each maintain their own individual paper filing systems.

In addition, the survey also found that even though The Regulator has said they want to see decision making improved, only 45% of trustees have had any relevant training provided, and 77% have not yet been given access to any precedents or other relevant information to aid them in their decision making.

Since The Regulator was established under The Pensions Act 2004, the environment in which trustees operate has become more complex and faces greater regulation.

The responsibilities of trustees continue to grow rapidly. Trustees almost invariably have additional commitments and must make the most of the time they spend on pensions matters. Trustees need to be given the right tools to ensure their time is used effectively addressing key pensions issues affecting their schemes, rather than searching for information or obtaining documentation from their pensions manager or secretariat.

“There still seems to be a heavy reliance by trustees on the pensions manager for information. Another concern is the amount of Trustee time that must be spent maintaining paper files.” said Alister Esam, Managing Director of eShare. “This is not an effective way for trustees to manage knowledge. To do the best job possible, they need to have access to all information to enable them to perform their role to the best of their ability.”

In today’s environment, technology is a key driver behind operational processes, change and business developments. Yet the survey discovered 91% of trustees believed their current technology could be used more effectively, and 60% believed that implementing new technology could bring significant improvements to their scheme.

“It is clear that trustees are trying to do the best for their schemes. At eShare we believe in making information a resource not a burden. We believe technology can make meetings simpler, improve knowledge, improve decision making and manage business processes effectively,” said Alister Esam. “Our survey shows the trustees believe this too – but they aren’t yet receiving the tools they need.”

“The message is clear, to raise our collective game with regards to governance, trustees want better tools to manage the scheme and make the most of their pensions time.”

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