Another April, another tax year. And as if the introduction of a new set of tax rules were not enough to cope with, the UK's financial services industry will also have to deal with new pensions legislation this year. The new pensions schemes will place a particular premium on updated and super-efficient technology systems.

Stakeholder pensions are the UK government's 'big idea' to solve the looming pension problem. They are flexible, value-for-money pension schemes, designed to make private pensions available to all sections of the population, including low-income groups that are currently without one, and to take the pressure off the state as it faces a rapidly ageing population. Since the new format was announced around two years ago, armies of specialists have been working behind the scenes to deliver the product to the public on the scheduled introduction date of April 6.