The Challenge
The current law on fiduciary duty is not clear. This makes it hard for pension schemes to be confident they have a valid legal basis for looking at investment issues that can improve savers’ outcomes overall – issues like investing in the UK economy, health, the wider environment and skills.
Our Proposal
We have been working with Andy Lewis and Stuart O’Brien of Sackers, along with ShareAction and other key partners and stakeholders, on a proposal for legislation that would resolve this. It would clarify fiduciary duty, providing a legally permitted framework that enables pension schemes to take account of relevant wider issues when investing.
This creates stronger legal foundations, empowering pension schemes to act. It complements many of the policy objectives already in the Pension Schemes Bill 2025.
Why it matters
- Clarifying fiduciary duty allows trustees to invest in assets that strengthen both portfolios and the economy members will retire into.
- Considering members’ living standards, systemic risks and member views is fundamentally part of fiduciary responsibility.
- Members’ real retirement outcomes depend on the world they retire into; pensions are about real value in retirement, not just cash pots.
- Delivers significant economic benefits while preserving trustee autonomy and investment decision-making.
- Fixes the “plumbing” of pensions to allow capital to flow and create an even playing field for schemes to invest with confidence.
Further resources
| Pension Schemes Bill Briefing Draft amendment to the Pension Schemes Bill | Legal wording for the proposed amendment, adding a new clause to the Pension Schemes Bill. The clause would require regulations to be made clarifying fiduciary duty on key issues for occupational pension schemes, workplace personal pensions and the LGPS. It would also give the government a power to issue statutory guidance. |
| Amendment to Occupational Pension Schemes (Investment Regulations) 2005 | Legal wording showing how the detailed clarification of fiduciary duty would be delivered by changing the investment regulations that apply to occupational pension schemes. |
| Keeling schedule – Pensions Act 1995 | Shows how the wording of section 36 of the Pensions Act 1995 would be changed by the amendments. |
| Legal commentary | An explainer on technical drafting points, aimed at lawyers and other professionals. |
| ShareAction’s Q&A document | Frequently asked questions about the proposal for pension trustees, pension executives, pensions lawyers, policymakers and others. It explains (for example) why the law needs clarifying, why existing |
Upcoming Events
Aligning pensions with members’ interests: what could 2075 look like?
Join us over breakfast to discuss how pension trustees can be empowered to act in the full interests of their members and ask: what kind of future will today’s savers retire into – and how can…
