According to a poll conducted by consumer watchdog Which?, 90% of the British public do not trust the financial services industry to run low-cost retirement savings schemes for them, and would prefer a scheme not controlled by the industry.
Which? conducted a survey to see who the public would trust to run the personal accounts scheme set to be introduced in the UK in 2012. The UK government is expected to provide details of who will be running the scheme, which will automatically enroll employees to encourage them to begin saving for retirement, before the end of the year.
The survey, which included more than 500 consumers, found that the majority of respondents do not think the scheme should be managed by the private sector. Only 10% of respondents said that they believed the financial services industry would be the best option for managing the personal accounts scheme in consumers’ best interests.
Support for the government and independent financial organizations was also less than enthusiastic, with 17% of those surveyed saying that they would trust the government to run the scheme, and 15% giving their support for independently-run financial institutions to look after it.
The industry could not be trusted to deliver on the government’s flagship stakeholder pensions policy a couple of years ago and it can’t be trusted now, commented Which? personal finance campaigner Doug Taylor.