UK - Tim Jones, a former chief executive of retail banking at NatWest, has been appointed as chief executive of the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority, the government has announced today.

Jones, currently a co-director of the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI), took up his new post today, a spokeswoman of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) told IPE.

Pensions Minister Mike O'Brien said: "[Personal accounts] will be a high quality, low-charge pension scheme - targeted at low to moderate earners - and will give millions of people access to an employer contribution for the first time."

He added: "But setting up a trust-based occupational pension scheme, with billions of pounds of funds under management, is not a job for Government. That is why we are recruiting leaders with a proven track record in the private sector to make sure we get the design of personal accounts right."

Paul Myners, author of the Myners review and chairman of the hedge fund group Ermitage, was appointed as chair designate of the authority in July.

The delivery authority will offer advice to the government and will be responsible for getting personal accounts up and running, while assisting employers meet their new obligations.

According to the DWP, personal accounts will extend the benefits of an occupational pension - including an employer contribution and tax relief - to millions of employees who currently do not have access to a good workplace pension.

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