Tim Jones has been appointed as chief executive of the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority.
Jones, a former chief executive of retail banking at NatWest, is currently co-director of the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation and will take on his new role with immediate effect.
The delivery authority will offer independent advice to the government and, with parliamentary approval, be responsible for getting the government’s new system of personal accounts up and running. The system, which will go live in 2012, means that all UK employees will automatically be enrolled into the accounts unless they are already members of an occupational pension scheme which has contribution rates above those of the new National Pension Savings Scheme (NPSS). Under the NPSS, employers will have to contribute 3%, employees will pay in 4% of their salary and 1% tax relief will also be given.
Pensions minister Mike O’Brien, said: “[Jones] brings very considerable experience in both retail banking and many other areas of the financial sector.”
Jones added: “The goal is clear – to achieve a system of personal accounts which is simple for both employers and employees. We now need to grasp the opportunity to get millions of people saving for the future and to provide a major boost to their incomes in retirement.
“Having led major new product development and change programmes in the past, I relish the prospect of working with a wide range of stakeholders to bring personal accounts to fruition.”