UK pensions are being 'squandered' warns Phoenix Chief Investment Officer

Phoenix's investment chief has issued a stark warning that the UK's pension wealth is being "squandered" due to market fragmentation and conservative money managers.

In an article for City AM, Mike Eakins, Chief Investment Officer at the FTSE 100 pensions firm, highlighted that the UK is an "outlier" in comparison to similar nations, with its pension funds inefficiently spread across numerous small investment vehicles.

"We have one of the highest levels of investable pension wealth, but this advantage is squandered by having it split up between thousands of arrangements," he remarked. Eakins also pointed out that the industry's diffuse nature is largely historical and called for openness to change.

The comments come as there is a push from both the government and the financial sector to direct pension funds into more productive assets, following a two-decade trend of moving away from equities towards bonds. Despite the UK managing around £5 trillion in pension assets, changes in accounting practices around the year