The Society of Pension Professionals has called on the FCA to introduce guidance or caps on future growth assumptions, when it launches its new digital pension rules.
The SPP said projections would either have to be grounded in expected market returns or that firms would have to disclose how their projects compare to market benchmarks.
The SPP added that figures provided to consumers by pensions modellers must be “useful and comparable” to allow savers to make well-informed choices.
The SPP was responding to FCA proposals published late in 2025.
The FCA has been consulting on rules to better support consumers using digital pension planning tools and consumers making non-advised decisions to transfer DC pensions.
It launched a discussion paper in December 2024 inviting input on areas of its regulatory framework for pensions. In December 2025 it published its proposals inviting comments by this Thursday, 12 February.
The FCA is proposing:
• A new regime for interactive digital pension planning tools for in-force pensions.
• A new process to support non-advised consumers to make informed decisions about whether and where to transfer or consolidate DC pensions.
The SPP expressed concern at what it said is an overly-ambitious timeline for implementing the FCA’s proposed changes in relation to simulations in digital tools, recommending that it be extended from 12 months to 24, to allow for consumer testing of tools to ensure a positive user experience.
The SPP also said that its members are not convinced that the FCA’s planned “acknowledgement process” for transferring pension pots adds value, stating that this is likely to cause additional costs and complexities for pension schemes.
David James, chair of the SPP’s DC Committee, said: “Like the FCA, the SPP would very much like to see a pension market that helps consumers navigate their financial lives, where pensions deliver value for money and consumers have the ability to make informed decisions.
”However, regulators must be wary of adding additional costs and complexity to this process, especially at a time when schemes are dealing with a wide range of other regulatory and legislative changes.”