The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) has appointed Michelle Cracknell (pictured) chief executive, from 1 October 2013.
Cracknell has more than 25 years’ experience working in pensions and retirement planning. Her experience ranges from self-administered pensions, defined benefit and defined contribution pensions, as well as communication programmes for employees.
She said: “I believe in pensions as a savings vehicle for retirement and I want to help people understand them so that they are able to make informed choices.
“I am thrilled to have been appointed chief executive of The Pensions Advisory Service where we can help with providing access to information on pensions, use the insights that we have from dealing with these queries to contribute to the debate on future pension regulation and assist in sorting out disputes.
“Automatic-enrolment will bring a set of new challenges. It is critical that employees understand the pension scheme that they are enrolled in and pro-actively plan for their retirement. The Pensions Advisory Service will be active in ensuring that the information is readily available to facilitate this engagement.”
Partha Dasgupta, chairman at The Pensions Advisory Service, added: “I am very pleased to welcome [Cracknell] to TPAS. [She] has extensive knowledge and expertise of all aspects of pensions.
“I know she is particularly excited about working with our volunteers and leading our work on automatic-enrolment to raise awareness of the value of pensions to a wider audience.”