The government-sponsored national system for pension saving, due to come into force in 2012, is a “mis-selling scandal in the making,” warns Ned Cazalet, the independent life assurance analyst.

In a report published on Monday, Mr Cazalet, a respected commentator with a record of correctly forecasting industry trends, will say that for many lower paid workers the overall potential returns on contributions made under personal pension accounts could be “hugely negative”, largely because of the impact of means-testing.