Pensions Regulator “key enabler of pensions data ecosystem” in newly-launched strategy

In a press release on March 3, 2025, the Regulator sets out its new strategy to benefit schemes, savers and the economy through improved data.

The Regulator’s newly-launched plan challenges schemes to raise standards around data and to establish a set of “data principles” in order to set high expectations for data management and effective data governance.

The Regulator has identified that poor data quality leads to inconsistencies, increased costs and security risks. With these risks becoming increasingly important as the DC market consolidates and the deadlines for pensions dashboards approach, industry needs to work on building strong foundations now.

The Regulator plans to:

• Set clear standards and expectations for data and provide relevant guidance and interventions.
• Ensure all data collected for its purposes is directly related to good saver outcomes and supports efficient and effective regulation, competition and industry innovation.
• Modernise how it collects data to reduce burden on employers, schemes, administrators and advisers by working towards creating an internal data marketplace – a centralised platform facilitating the discovery, access, and sharing of data among employees – which links to the government’s National Data Library and the wider external data ecosystem. 
• Where appropriate and in savers’ interests, collaborate with industry to find ways to make it easier to access, use, modify, and share data.

The strategy also calls on schemes to safely adopt new technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), aligning to the Government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan regarding outcome-driven and inclusive AI adoption across the pensions sector to improve efficiency and provide improved saver outcomes.

During 2025, the Regulator is set to launch an AI Advisory Council with internal and external specialists to ensure it meets ethical standards and regulatory obligations, and AI technologies to support increased productivity and regulatory efficiency.