Dear Ros,
Let me start with an apology on behalf of the pensions industry.
I suspect that some of my colleagues will have given you a less than warm welcome.
Your pro-consumer, pro-transparency agenda is viewed as dangerously radical by many of the pension world's big beasts, and your appointment clearly gives them the willies.
But I for one am delighted at the prospect of you using your new role to slash red tape and get more people saving into pensions.
So as Steve Webb settles into his post-Westminster life - and if there's any justice - a highly-paid consultancy for Lamborghini, here's my two-penneth on what I think you should seek to do in the role.
You've already said that you want to safeguard the pension freedoms that came into force last month.
I'd like to see you go further - forcing pension companies to lift the veil of secrecy and obfuscation with which many still shroud their fees.
Overturning an ingrained culture of exceptionalism won't be easy, but if anyone can take on the industry's vested interests it's you.
Put simply, there's no reason for pensions to be different from any other product.
To ensure savers are not ripped off, all the costs should be clearly explained at the start - in pounds and pence.
As for your plans to get more people saving into a pension, this should sit well with your new boss's efforts to appeal to "blue-collar" Tories.
For starters, there's the name. Rebranding pensions as "lifetime savings accounts" - which people can dip into throughout their lives - will make them seem less fusty and more approachable.
But you should reverse the coalition's decision to cut the lifetime allowance.
I doubt whether the plan - which was presented as a tax on the rich - won the Tories many votes.
To my mind, the lifetime allowance is a tax on providence, and a penalty on investment success. Scrapping it entirely wouldn't cost the Exchequer much - as the cost of HMRC policing the current rules is barely covered by the tax take - and would be a great incentive to get more people saving more for their retirement.
More radical still, I suggest you equalise tax relief for all pension savers at 30%.
This will give a shot of free money to lower earners - if getting a higher level of tax relief on their pension savings than the income tax they pay doesn't get more of them saving, I don't know what will. The cost will be more than covered by the reduction in tax relief paid to higher earners.
If pension freedom was designed to get more people interested in pensions, equalising tax relief will make pensions truly democratic - and encourage many thousands more people to start saving into the auto-enrolment pensions they are being shepherded towards.
Finally, while I'm on the subject of democracy - as undemocratic as it sounds, I quite like the fact that a non-politician has been appointed to the role.
For years the job of pensions minister was seen as a mere stepping stone for ambitious young politicians - many of whom had scant knowledge of the industry.
The result was that pensions ended up being a political football, hoofed around between focus groups and subjected to endless tinkering.
One of the reasons that Steve Webb was so successful was that he remained in post so long. Continuity counts for a lot.
So congratulations on your appointment - I hope your tenure is long and successful.
I look forward to you clashing swords with those in the industry who view opaque and high fees as their birthright, and completing the work of Steve Webb's pensions revolution.
Yours sincerely,
John Fox, Managing director, Liberty SIPP
