Alistair Hardie: The adviser will recommend the appropriate tax wrapper to the client based on their individual circumstances. That might be a fully functioning self-invested personal pension (Sipp), or a limited choice of, say, a mutual funds Sipp. I am not sure it really matters what the tax wrapper is, as long as long as the customer knows and understands what they are buying into, what the costs are and how that tax wrapper can evolve. As an industry, we get too hung up on what is and isn’t a Sipp.

How comfortable are trustees in getting to grips with alternatives, not only in terms of asset classes but also as an overall investment strategy?

Charlie Thomas: Who is responsible for the long-term financial wellbeing of employees? Should the government be doing more to encourage employers to provide workplace savings, and to what extent can the two interact without stepping on each other’s toes?

What is your initial reaction to the new government’s approach to pensions?

Chris Smeaton: Until we have seen the emergency Budget, we are not sure what it’s going to entail, but some of the early indications are quite promising. The removal of compulsory annuitisation at age 75 has been there for four years via ASP [alternatively secured pensions] anyway, so I do not see why that makes a massive amount of difference. Giving people more flexibility about when they take their money out of their pension makes a lot of sense. So, there are some encouraging signs, but it is a bit too early to get excited.

Are pensions fit for a twenty-first century purpose?

Are self-invested personal pensions (Sipps) still attractive as a vehicle for pension saving in the current climate?

How much interest is there in setting up a group self-invested personal pension (Sipp) in the current economic climate?

Owen Walker: How has the economic downturn affected the at-retirement market?

How would you define workplace, or corporate wrap, platforms?

Measuring longevity can be seen as an impossible task, but steps are being taken to reduce the risk to schemes and improve trustee awareness. Pádraig Floyd leads the roundtable discussion.

Alan Smith: Whether it is £18bn or £100bn, there is quite a lot of money tied up in these funds. I am not necessarily convinced that, if there is £100bn, all of it is standing by waiting to get rolled into self-invested personal pensions (Sipps). Probably no more than 20% of the entire fund is standing by, ready to get rolled into Sipps at the moment.

Mark Rowlands: Investment platforms have been around for five or so years and their market penetration seems to be accelerating. That is driven partly by DC pension schemes looking for more sophisticated solutions as their asset pool and cash flows have increased, but also by some defined benefit (DB) schemes with small asset pools that are looking for more sophisticated solutions and greater flexibility. Platforms can provide greater diversification of managers and asset classes, improved operational efficiency and reduced out-of-market risk in the event of manager changes. Some clients, typically those who have a 100% passive approach, are still comfortable buying from pools or segregated vehicles, however, those wanting different solutions are increasingly looking into platforms.