Please Mr. Postman look and see, if there’s a letter in your bag for me.

Why’s it takin’ such a long time? For me to hear from that pension scheme of mine?

Within the current consultation on Trusteeship [Trust-based pension schemes:Trustees and governance, building a stronger future] there is a whole chapter on member voice. On reflection communicating with scheme members in DC & DB schemes is almost at opposite ends of the spectrum.

Members signing up in the DC arena provide their email address as a must have piece of data so that they can enter into a fully digital experience including the use of mobile apps to monitor and change their investments. Such is the competition in the DC market place the DC providers see current scheme members as ambassadors for future growth in member numbers. If they provide a good experiences this will be talked up.

Contrast this with DB schemes where the most important item of data after your name is still your home address. DB schemes may have come a long way in the last 20 years but digitisation and the improvement of data collection has only made it onto the agenda for future development for many.

Many DB schemes seem to believe that the members voice is just there to help improve the administration of schemes! Very few of them have any social media presence for members to contact the scheme independently of scheme officers and, only a few schemes allow every day conversations for scheme members that are truly open and transparent. It is still rather patriarchal and old school.

No wonder so many members still need to wait for that fabled postman….