The ABI's director general has attacked the way political parties have handled pensions in the election campaign and claimed policy in this area is going backwards.
In a speech this morning at an NAPF pensions briefing, Huw Evans expressed frustration at pension proposals ahead of the May 7 ballot.

The ABI also called today for an independent retirement commission and an online pension portal where savers can see all their pension information in one place.

Mr Evans said: "We are going backwards in making the right decisions on pensions. Ten years ago we had an independent commission making far-reaching recommendations with cross-party support.

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"Now we have no consensus and increasing short-termism on issues of profound importance to our ageing society."

Mr Evans described the General Election campaign as "disappointing and frustrating" for those "who would like to see fundamental reform of our pensions policy".

He said: "All we have had are proposals to raid pensions tax relief to pay for headline-grabbing policies such as tuition fees and inheritance tax with no debate at all about how best to reform the system to ensure people save more.

"This isn't good enough and reinforces the need to put longer term savings strategy at arms-length from short term political considerations."

Today's savers need clarity and certainty to save for the longer term, he said.

He added: "Decisions about tax always have to be the prerogative of elected ministers in a democracy. But political cycles are short when compared to a lifetime of saving for retirement."

The ABI also called for the Government to change the rules so providers can move savers easily into modern, good value pension schemes.