UK should copy Australian and Canadian pension systems to boost investment, says Phoenix director

The head of the UK’s biggest pensions and savings firm has said British retirement funds should be more like Australian and Canadian schemes.

Phoenix Group chief executive Andy Briggs has called for a pension shake-up ahead of Rachel Reeves’ budget next month.

More needs to be done to encourage investment in the UK and increase the amount workers save, Briggs said.

His comments came ahead of the budget on October 30, amid fears the Chancellor will reveal a tax raid on pensions.

Briggs said pension funds should invest in London-listed stocks and British private equity and infrastructure.

Citing Australia and Canada as examples for the UK to follow, he said: “Other countries are doing more to encourage inward investment by their savers. We think there is a real opportunity to do something about that.”

This would involve greater concentration and scale of individual funds, such as the huge retirement funds operating in Australia and Canada.

Briggs said the 8 percent automatic enrollment contributions are “not enough” for savers and should be raised to 12 percent for middle-income earners.

A report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) published yesterday found that up to 40 percent of private sector employees – or seven million workers – will not achieve the necessary conditions after retirement.