CMA

The time and costs involved in the process of tendering and/or switching a fiduciary manager can be 'considerable' and may make it more difficult for schemes to assess value for money and switch provider.

This week's top stories included coverage of the Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) latest working paper, and six pension firms placed in provisional liquidator after an Insolvency Service investigation.

The regulator is not striking the right balance in its 'clearer, quicker and tougher' approach on enforcement, according to this week's Pensions Buzz respondents.

The CMA's latest working paper finds trustees are very likely to choose their existing investment consultant for a fiduciary management mandate without third-party advice, James Phillips reports

The pressure of "excessive regulation" is causing a drop in the number of lay trustees and deterring people from taking up the role, according to this week's Pensions Buzz respondents.

In this week's Pensions Buzz survey, we want to know whether regulation is forcing a reduction in the number of lay trustees.

Investment consultants are failing to recommend products that outperform net of fees, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has said as its investigation into the market continues.

The current picture of trustees' abilities to compare performance and fees among investment consultants and fiduciary managers may be overly positive, the competition watchdog has said.

The industry has welcomed the Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA's) working paper on the information available to trustees on the fees and quality of investment consultants and fiduciary managers.

Industry believes the CMA investigation into the investment consultant market has had no noticeable impact on their business activity.