Only 1 in 20 pension schemes will be able to provide dashboard data for all of their members, according to a new survey.
Data analysts WTW polled 100 pension scheme trustees and in-house pensions managers.
The results revealed that less than half feel they would be able to cope with the increase in enquiries following the dashboard launch.
There are fewer than 150 working days until the first Pensions Dashboards’ connection deadline.
While three-quarters of schemes said they were confident they will be compliant with their dashboard duties in time for their connection deadline, only 5% are expecting to be able to provide pensions value data for all members at launch.
Meanwhile less than half (46%) of schemes expect value data to be available for up to 90% of members, a fifth (21%) do not yet know what level of member coverage they will be able to achieve.
The research also revealed anxiety around how pension schemes will cope with the increase in member enquiries anticipated once dashboards have launched.
Less than half (48%) of those surveyed were confident that their scheme would be able to manage the increase in enquiries, while more than a third (35%) anticipated that their scheme will have difficulty coping with the higher volume.
Geraldine Brassett, director, outsourcing (pension solutions), WTW, said: “Pension schemes know there is still a lot of work to do to prepare for the launch of dashboards, but there are steps they can take to minimise disruption and increase success for members.”
He said understanding a scheme’s design and the quality of its data is key.
He said: “We know that pensions data can be imperfect but the actions we take now to understand and resolve data issues will help to give members the confidence in dashboards. He urged pension schemes to work closely with their administrators and providers to help iron out their data challenges in advance of dashboards becoming available to members.
WTW polled 100 pension scheme trustees and in-house pension scheme managers and directors on 17 January 2023 as part of its ‘Pensions dashboards: What should you be doing now?’ webcast.
