The percentage of Nest’s 9m pension savers opting out of auto enrolment has increased from 6% to 9% following the second increase in minimum auto enrolment contributions.

Aegon has welcomed a move to freeze the auto-enrolment annual earnings trigger at £10,000, a step that will mean an additional 80,000 eligible employees will likely start saving for retirement.

More than 16m people are now saving into master trust pensions, according to data from The Pensions Regulator.

The Pensions Regulator says 16 million pension pots are now ‘better protected’ after all the existing schemes have been authorised and moved to the new rules.