Tom Finlay's bio is three sentences long. He's reluctant to produce it saying he doesn't want to talk about himself. "When are we going to talk about pensions?" he wants to know. Soon.

As chairman of the Irish Association of Pension Funds (IAPF), Mr Finlay is passionate about pensions. He's two months into the job and has had time to read himself into his new role. He wants to talk about the proposed Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs), concerns about annuities, the IAPF's opposition to compulsory employer-provided pensions, the need to keep an eye on Brussels - and the association's plans. "It's a very important time for Irish pensions," he points out. "There are a lot of changes happening." Indeed there are, and the IAPF, which represents the interests of pension scheme members, trustees and sponsoring employers, is keen to be seen as the voice of Irish pensions. The association's 400 members provide pension cover for 200,000 employees and pay pensions to 70,000 retirees. They are responsible for 80 per cent of the total assets of Irish pension funds, just more than £30 billion (€38 billion).

Mr Finlay's own background is with Bank of Ireland Asset Management where he is responsible for the bank's institutional pension business. He's been with the bank since 1975 when he joined as a graduate trainee. But he originally qualified as a barrister, following in the family's footsteps. His father is retired chief justice Tom Finlay, two siblings are senior counsel, another sister is a solicitor.

"I don't use my law explicity, but it's a useful way of training in terms of mental process, understanding stuff, not being in any way confused by the professionals, you understand what they're talking about."

That ability to cut through the jargon and explain pensions in a way people can understand is both Mr Finlay's greatest challenge and his biggest strength.

"There is a sense of mystery around pension funds. People find them very complex and difficult to understand. For that reason, some people who should have been providing them, haven't done so. One of the roles of the IAPF should be to make information more accessible and to communicate better on that."

For example, Mr Finlay says, scheme members need to know about the changing trends in pensions and how that will affect the individual member. Trustees need to understand issues like investment strategy and how to choose a professional adviser.

To meet these needs, the association is developing a website and a pensions magazine, both of which should be launched in October. A trustee forum, created in conjunction with the Pensions Board, IBEC and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, was launched a year ago and has proved very successful, he says.

The IAPF is also looking at changes in its own role in future, in light of anticipated pensions legislation next year and changing trends in pension provision.

"In the future, there will be more individual funds and fewer corporate funds as the nature of work changes. We will have to react to that in a way that keeps us relevant for our members and new members."

The introduction of PRSAs, for instance, is likely to mean a new category of individual membership.

"A self-employed person with a pension scheme will have a need for information, somewhere to talk to other people with similar pensions and find out what is best practice and get advice. We have to be able to cope in future with that type of member."

But it's not only the self-employed who are not covered by occupational pension schemes. Many employers fail to provide pension cover for their workers, particularly those in low-paid and part-time employment. Under proposed legislation, employers will have to make pension schemes available to all staff but will not have to contribute to them, a position the IAPF supports.

"We strongly subscribe to the need for greater coverage but we do have concerns about compulsion. If there is compulsion, then those employers who are providing a significantly better level of benefits than that, may move back down to the minimum required, as has been the case in Australia.

Isn't this a conflict with the association's mission to be the voice of Irish pensions? Not really, says Mr Finlay.

"We're not just sitting smugly and saying our members have reasonable level of benefits and I'm alright Jack. We think PRSAs should be given a chance to work, and this is Government policy. Also, the individual is as important as the employer here. With better information available, simpler products, less mystery and better value for money, these should lead to more coverage."

The key issue, he says, is education.

"Pensions have a much higher profile now than they did five years ago. The basic work that needs to be done is that people, as they begin their career, need to be educated for the third period of life, which is the retirement period and which is stretching out now for 20-30 years. You can't have a realistic standard of living then if you don't provide for it during the second period.

But people also need to be realistic about the potential returns in the future, he cautions. "We are coming out of a time of exceptionally high returns, but nothing stays the same."

The association is also concerned about what happens after retirement, in particular the post-retirement options for self-employed people outlined in the last year's Finance Act.

These focus on the controversial provision that people should no longer have to purchase an annuity with 75 per cent of their pension fund as has traditionally been the case. Instead, it is proposed that self-employed retirees should have much greater control over the spending of their fund.

"At the time, we welcomed the flexibility but we were concerned about the safeguards that were in place for what is a very vulnerable time in people's lives. We accept that it has happened and we hope that it works. But we think more needs to be done to make it workable. There is a distinct danger that people's funds could run out."

This is all the more important, Mr Finlay says, given the Minister for Finance's suggestion that the new post-retirement options could be extended to people in occupational pension schemes. The association plans to get together with IBEC and ICTU next month to "think through" the implications and what can be done.

With the pensions industry going through the most fundamental changes in its history, is it an exciting time to be leading the association? "It's daunting," Mr Finlay responds. "But my style is definitely collegial and I have a strong council."

He tries to maintain a daily exercise routine and has run two marathons, one in New York with his wife Caroline in aid of Goal, the other in Dublin. But he's now considering a switch to triathlons. "Everybody needs some balancing thing. Exercise to me is vital."