For anyone worried about the future of the savings industry in the UK, the 144 pages of new guidance published by the Pensions Regulator yesterday is a welcome sign standards will be driven up. The bad news is the proposed code of conduct will cover less than half of the people saving into new-style pension schemes.

The Regulator's new approach consists of 31 quality standards that pension funds must comply with or explain why not. A popular new kind of pension scheme, known as master-trusts, are brought into regulatory scope for the first time and will have to demonstrate "independent assurance" that they meet the standards.