The ‘public confidence score’ for the pensions sector rose 1.5% in 2021, according to Trafalgar House’s Trust and Confidence Index.

The index, which takes the opinions of more than 2,000 people and provides an annual check on the level of public trust in the pensions industry, found the trust score fell from 4.56 out of 10 in 2020 to 4 .63 out of 10 in 2021.

The index found almost a third (31.5%) of people said they had no or very little confidence in the industry – down slightly from 34.5% in 2020.

However, just over a quarter (25.5%) said they trust the pension industry, either a reasonable amount or a lot, compared to 26.7%.

Those who felt this lack of confidence in the industry was having a negative effect on their savings were a concern for 25.8%, down from 29.6% in 2020.

Only around one in seven (14.9%) felt the industry had a positive impact on their level of savings.

Trafalgar House Chief Customer Officer, Daniel Taylor, commented: “Our research highlights the significant gap between industry views on member engagement and the reality of what members actually experience. .

“While we have seen some small positive improvements in this year’s numbers, the industry is still far from fulfilling its duty to protect and support members’ long-term savings plans.

“To see so many people reaffirming their lack of trust in the industry and having it negatively affect their savings and decisions shows that there is still a lot to be done to build relationships with members.

“A small degree of comfort can be drawn from the needle moving slightly more favorably during what has been an extremely difficult time for savers.

“The versatility and flexibility shown by much of the industry seems to have been noted – a surprising decision when we might have expected the scores to go in the opposite direction given the pressures caused by the pandemic. .

“Winning this small battle, however, is dwarfed by the industry’s overall losses in the war to gain members’ trust.”

Trafalgar House also revealed its research into members’ understanding of their pensions and showed that when respondents were told a number of key industry terms, no term had previously been heard by more than half of the respondents.

However, 79.1% of people who had heard of auto-enrollment thought they could explain its meaning to friends or family, while 76.2% thought they could explain the “normal retirement date”.