Shadow Pensions Minister, Helen Whately, has warned that mandating pension scheme investment would represent a "quiet power grab" by the Government.

Speaking at the Pensions UK Investment Conference 2026, Whately criticised the mandation powers included in the Government’s Pension Schemes Bill, arguing that they would allow ministers to direct pension investments and undermined long-standing principles around trustee independence.

Whately said the clause enabling mandation would give ministers the power to require defined contribution (DC) schemes to invest a proportion of their default funds in government-specified assets.

“That is a quiet power grab,” she warned.

She also warned that mandation could place trustees in an “invidious position”, forcing them to choose between following Government direction or fulfilling their fiduciary duty to act in members’ best interests.

Meanwhile, Pensions Minister, Torsten Bell, who had previously insisted that the industry should “chillax” and maintained that the power was intended only to ensure the industry meets the commitments it has made, has changed tack a little. Speaking at the UKSIF Ownership Day conference he made a slight deviation by suggesting that the Government should make corporate disclosure of transition plans a legal requirement.

In effect this would shift responsibility to companies and allow pension funds to make informed decisions as to how sustainable an investment might be. Yet the devil is in the detail, for there is then an implied onus on the fund trustees to make sustainable choices over returns.

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