Is Pensions Trusteeship a vocation?  This was a surprising choice of words from the Minister but that was his bold statement at the startof his consultation on trusteeship and governance.

The dictionary variously describes vocation as a call to an occupation, or as an occupation which isregarded as worthy and requiring dedication, in addition to its religious connotations. Membertrustees often say that becoming a trustee was something they had never thought of doing - andsomething that they were encouraged to take up as a service to their working colleagues. So, itseems that we have apparently been thinking in vocational terms all along!The key duty of a trustee is to act, not on your own behalf, but in the interests of the trustbeneficiaries. In member trustees this is a reflection of the “vocational” mindset. We should bethinking very carefully about what might be lost if we lose this aspect of governance from largeschemes even though this consolidation is intended to be in members interests.As the Minister said when launching the ‘Trustees and governance building a stronger future’consultation, “members best interests (should be) consistently front of mind”. And he emphasisesthat “it is important that the voices of members are still taken into account and represented” as themarket consolidates.Our collective challenge is to find a way to keep this service and member representation central toscheme governance in the future. Is it possible and can we hold both aspects of the Ministersstrategy together for the sake of beneficiaries? AMNT believes that it is crucial that we do.