Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her Mansion House speech on July 15, but pension industry experts have expressed disappointment at its limited coverage of pension matters.
Reeves confirmed Elsewhere the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Targeted Support regime will come into effect from April 2026, which will allow financial providers to propose appropriate products and strategies to consumers with “similar circumstances and characteristics".
This policy shift is expected to help consumers make better decisions with their pension savings and will "allow banks to alert customers about specific investment opportunities to consider shifting money from a low-return current accounts to higher-performing stocks and shares investments".
Critics highlighted the speech notably failed to address "Phase 2" of the Labour Government's pension review, which was expected to focus on retirement savings adequacy and expanding automatic enrolment.
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The Pensions Management Institute (PMI) criticised the omission as a missed opportunity to tackle the growing retirement savings crisis.
Labour's perceived silence on "Phase 2" has drawn sharp criticism from key industry bodies. The PMI highlighted the Chancellor's failure to seize an opportunity to confront the escalating retirement savings crisis affecting millions of workers.
As well as this, the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) echoed these concerns in their UK Pensions Framework 2025, stating that "a pensions adequacy review cannot come soon enough".
Industry experts had anticipated the Mansion House speech would outline concrete steps towards expanding automatic enrolment and improving retirement savings adequacy.
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The absence of these measures has left many questioning the government's commitment to pension reform. While the Chancellor's speech disappointed on pension adequacy, it did address financial services reform.
Andy Wealthall, the chief operating officer at Lifetime Financial Management, said: "We believe the Chancellor's call for reform in financial services comes at the right time, but her targeted support plans need a rethink."
Wealthall highlighted persistent challenges in closing the advice gap, which prevents millions from accessing financial guidance.
"The advice gap remains a complex challenge, and we have long championed solutions that could help narrow it. A lack of advice has prevented millions of people from accessing the help they need to make informed financial decisions. The intention is right, but the mechanism still needs work."
Wealthall argued that the FCA's targeted support framework falls short of addressing fundamental issues. "At Lifetime, we've always said that the advice model needs to be reimagined, not just rebranded.
"Financial guidance shouldn't stop at age-based assumptions but instead should reflect the individual behind the numbers."
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He criticised targeted support as impractical, stating it "can't scale easily and it's not economically viable for many planning firms to adopt. We think targeted support could be a barrier to growth."
The Chancellor declared that Britain's growth ambitions depend on a "fighting fit and thriving" financial services sector, placing the City at the centre of the Government's economic strategy.
Speaking at her annual Mansion House address to finance leaders, the Chancellor unveiled what the Government describes as the most significant financial services reforms in over a decade.
"I have placed financial services at the heart of the Government's growth mission, recognising that Britain cannot succeed and meet its growth ambitions without a financial services sector that is fighting fit and thriving," she told attendees.
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