Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 11 October 2017 to Question 106439, on pensions, other than Master Trusts, if the Government will establish an approved list of regulated pension schemes with regulated underlying investments that are deemed safe; and if he will make a statement.

It is not the Government’s role to determine whether the individual underlying investments of pension schemes are safe or not. The Government has, however, legislated to require trustees or managers of occupational pension schemes to ensure the quality and security of their scheme’s investment portfolio. This includes ensuring that scheme assets are predominantly invested in investments admitted to regulated markets.

Pension providers of workplace personal pensions need to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in order to carry out this activity. The FCA is also responsible for the regulation of the investment market and financial advisers. FCA already holds a register of firms that are or have been regulated by them or the Prudential Regulation Authority. The register is open to the public. FCA also produces a warning list that the public, including trustees, can use to check an investment or pension opportunity to avoid scams.