Lay trustees get first accreditation regime
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The Pensions Management Institute is launching a new accreditation regime for lay trustees, in a bid to demonstrate knowledge and strengthen their status in an increasingly professionalised environment.
The PMI is one of two bodies that currently accredit professional trustees, but the organisation is now also introducing an accreditation for lay trustees.
To achieve accreditation, applicants will be required to complete the Pensions Regulator’s Trustee Toolkit and both parts of the PMI’s Certificate of Pension Trusteeship, which was originally designed for professional trustees. Accredited trustees have the option of being listed on an online register and can use the designation LTPMI (accred).
Accredited lay trustees will be required to complete 15 hours of relevant continuing professional development each year and to complete any new or updated modules in TPR’s Trustee Toolkit to maintain their status.
The PMI said the accreditation has been developed so lay trustees are able to “demonstrate a high degree of competence in driving best practice decision-making and so they can navigate the complex challenges of modern scheme governance”.
The accreditation reduces the gap between lay and professional trustees in terms of PMI qualifications, with a "relevant employment history within the industry for the past five years" now the main differentiator of professional trustees.
The accreditation reduces the gap between lay and professional trustees in terms of PMI qualifications, with a "relevant employment history within the industry for the past five years" now the main differentiator of professional trustees.
TPR welcomes initiative
The Pensions Regulator has welcomed the initiative. “Every saver deserves to be in a well-run, well-governed pension scheme. Our Corporate Plan is clear that one of our top priorities is to ensure decisions made on behalf of pension savers are in their best interests,” said executive director of regulatory policy and advice, David Fairs.
“To properly consider what’s in members’ interests, trustees need the appropriate level of knowledge and understanding. With the Pension Schemes Act including new duties on climate change and stopping scams, the degree of knowledge trustees need is likely to increase,” he noted.
PMI chief executive Gareth Tancred said the accreditation programme for lay trustees is built to professional trusteeship standards. “We’re committed to maintaining the strength of this accreditation by continuing to meet the ongoing development needs of trustees,” he added.
David Weeks, who co-chairs the Association of Member Nominated Trustees, welcomed the new accreditation.
“The Pensions Regulator’s recent consultation exercise confirmed the widespread support for the MNT role that exists across the industry. AMNT now welcomes PMI’s new accreditation scheme, which gives formal parity of esteem between lay and specialist trustees. We look forward to working with PMI to see how best to put the scheme into operation.”
The initial cost of accreditation will be £300 excluding VAT per applicant, and there will be an annual cost of renewal of £150 ex VAT for PMI members and £300 ex VAT for non-members.
