Money and Pensions Service appoints principal to drive Pensions Dashboards forwards

Chris Curry appointed Principal of Pensions Dashboards Industry Delivery Group

The Money and Pensions Service today announced the appointment of Chris Curry as Principal of the Pensions Dashboards Industry Delivery Group. 

Chris Curry brings valuable expertise and insight as the Director of the Pensions Policy Institute, as well as working on important projects such as the DWP Auto-Enrolment Review Advisory Group in 2017, where he was co-chair and led on providing advice on the theme of Contributions.

The first task of Chris Curry as Principal for the Pensions Dashboards, will be to establish the Industry Delivery Group, formed of stakeholders from across the pensions sector.

The Industry Delivery Group will work to develop the data standards and other criteria that any Pensions Dashboards will need to meet. A focus of this work will be to make sure that all Dashboards are consistent, easy-to-use and contain all the information people need in order to feel confident and informed in engaging with their pensions.

Progressing the Business Case is a priority for 2019, as well as developing a clear timeline for delivering the final Dashboard digital infrastructure. In parallel the Money and Pensions Service will begin work to design, test and build a consumer facing dashboard, working closely with the IDG. It’s vital that extensive user testing will feed into the data and other standards work that the IDG will be developing for all dashboards.

Sir Hector Sants, Chair of the Money and Pensions Service, said:

“Our vision is a society with everyone making the most of their money and pensions.  When nearly half of UK adults say that they don’t feel confident in making decisions about financial products and services, it’s essential that through the Pensions Dashboards we create a platform for people to engage more easily with their pensions throughout their lives.

“I look forward to working with Chris and the Industry Delivery Group, to ensure that through the Pensions Dashboards that people have access to the information they need, how they need it, in an accessible and user-friendly format, that they can rely on.”

Guy Opperman, Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion, said:

“Chris Curry has a wealth of experience driving forward innovation in the pensions industry. His appointment to lead the latest of our truly transformative reforms is an important moment.

“Pension dashboards will deliver a digital revolution, transforming how people plan for retirement by allowing everyone to see their savings online in one place.

“This is a pivotal year for the project. As industry begins to create and test consumer-facing models later this year, Chris and his team will have a crucial role in agreeing data standards and developing the technical architecture underpinning dashboards.”

Chris Curry, Principal of the Pensions Dashboards Industry Delivery Group, said:

“I am delighted to have the opportunity to be involved in something as important as the Pensions Dashboard. Building on the success so far of automatic enrolment, Pensions Dashboards have the potential to improve retirement outcomes for many people, and I look forward to leading the team driving this forward.”

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Chris Curry — biography

Chris Curry is the Director of the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) with overall responsibility for leading and managing the PPI. Chris originally joined the PPI as Research Director in July 2002 and was responsible for the research programme for eleven years.

In February 2017 Chris was announced as one of the three co-chairs for the DWP AE Review Advisory Group. Chris led on providing advice on the theme of Contributions. The DWP published the final report in December 2017.

Chris started his career as an Economic Adviser at the Department of Social Security (now the Department for Work and Pensions), before joining the ABI as Senior Economist.

Chris has a BSc (Hons) in Economics from the University of Warwick, and an MSc in Economics from Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London.

Following the Department for Work and Pensions feasibility study and consultation on pension dashboards, the Money and Pensions Service has been asked to take a leading role in delivery. MAPS will lead the delivery of the initial phase of the pensions dashboards and will bring together a delivery group made up of stakeholders from across the industry, consumer groups, regulators and government. The delivery group will be accountable to the Money and Pensions Service board, and the Money and Pensions Service are in turn accountable to the Department for Work and Pensions.