Chair of UK’s pensions regulator Sarah Smart to step down

Sarah Smart will step down as chair of The Pensions Regulator (TPR) in July 2025.

She has been on the UK’s workplace pensions regulator’s board since 2016, first as senior independent director and latterly as chair of the board.

During her time at TPR, the organisation made a number of radical outcome-focused interventions in the market including massively expanding pension participation by implementing automatic enrolment and ensuring the schemes are well run and governed by bringing in an authorisation regime for master trusts.

TPR also introduced clearer funding expectations through the establishment of a defined benefit (DB) funding code and supported new market innovation by overseeing the introduction of superfunds and collective defined contribution (CDC) schemes to the market.

Lastly, TPR expanded its delivery approach to include systemic risk mitigation and ensured that the pursuit of good saver outcomes became the primary authorisation tool.

The search for a successor to Smart will be led by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), in accordance with the government’s public appointments guidance with an ordered transition over the next six months.

Smart said: “Millions of people rely on a workplace pension to support them in later life and I’m so proud of what we have achieved in my time on TPR’s board over the last nine years.”

She said the challenge of the past decade was “getting people saving” and the challenge of the next is to “make sure that the system really works for savers”.

She continued: “To make that a reality, TPR is fundamentally changing to become a regulator that doesn’t just protect savers’ money, but also drives value in the system and supports innovation in the market. With the ongoing government pension reforms, there is a unique opportunity to make pensions work for everyone.”

Smart acknowledged that during her nine years at TPR’s board, a “huge” amount has changed in the landscape and added that this was also true for her personal circumstances.

“I now feel it is the right time for me to step away from TPR to concentrate on my personal situation. But I know that, with the strong leadership in place at TPR and hardworking and talented colleagues at all levels, we can help make the changes needed to ensure the next generation of savers have opportunity and empowerment in retirement,” she noted.

Pensions minister Torsten Bell thanked Smart for her nine years of “committed service”.

He said: “Her public service, at a time of significant change in the pensions landscape has been hugely valued. I wish her all the best for the future.”

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