The June 23 referendum on the United Kingdom’s membership of the European Union has been described as a ‘huge deal’ for the UK by the pensions industry, with research suggesting 61% of solutions providers, trustees and consultants will vote for the UK to remain.
The findings, published by pensions industry social network mallowstreet, indicate opinions about the UK’s membership vary among different shareholders. Support for remaining is overwhelming among solutions providers (such as banks and asset managers), with almost three quarters (73%) planning to vote to remain, and none saying they would vote to leave.
Conversely, while two thirds of trustees and consultants (64% and 63% respectively) surveyed said they would vote to stay, almost a third (32%) of trustees plan to vote ‘Yes’ to leave, along with 21% of consultants.
Solutions providers were, in any event, sceptical of the prospect of a ‘Brexit’. Little over a quarter (27%) said they believed the UK would leave the EU, while 63% saw the UK remaining part of the Union.
Despite the varying levels of support for remaining, respondents were largely unequivocal when it came to judging the impact of a ‘Brexit’ on the UK economy – only 25% of respondents believed it would be a positive development.
©2016 funds europe
