The boss of one of the UK's biggest pension firms has warned the Chancellor against tax changes that could deter people from saving for retirement.

Antonio Simoes, who took over as head of Legal & General at the start of this year, said savers needed 'stability' to convince them to lock their money away for the long term.

It comes amid speculation that Rachel Reeves will raid pension savings in next month's Budget – after the Government warned of 'painful' decisions.

One option is to reduce the level of tax relief on contributions for pension savers who are higher-rate tax-payers. Another is to cut the size of the tax-free lump sum that can be taken out.

Simoes would not be drawn when asked about specific policies but he said: 'What's important is stability. We need people to be investing more for their retirement and if you keep on changing the incentives there's no stability,' Simoes said.

'It's important individuals are incentivised to lock their money away, that we create pools of long-term savings that can be invested in energy and other areas.' Simoes backs moves to encourage 'more of the assets that are in the pension schemes to work harder for the UK economy'.

And as a member of a task force advising Labour on its plans for a National Wealth Fund – which will look at ways of boosting investment in net zero – his views will carry weight in the Treasury.

L&G has more than £1 trillion of assets under management worldwide. In the UK it looks after the retirement savings of more than 5.3 million people, collectively worth around £146 billion.

Simoes told The Mail on Sunday: 'We want to see stability and we want to encourage long-term savings and productive finance. We want more of this money to then be invested in the real economy.'

He said L&G was 'very supportive' of stability and 'incentives for people to do that.' It comes after Aviva boss Amanda Blanc urged Ministers to think carefully about changing pension tax relief and the long-term impact it could have.

Bosses at six other pension firms representing millions of savers last week lined up to warn the Chancellor, in The Mail on Sunday, of the damaging consequences of a raid on pension contributions.

Pensions are a target for Labour as it has ruled out raising income tax, VAT or corporation tax.

Think-tank, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, has urged the Chancellor to stage a £2 billion raid on wealthy savers' pension pots by slashing the amount that can be withdrawn as a tax-free lump sum.

It has also called for pensions to be subject to inheritance tax and for National Insurance to be levied on employer contributions to pensions.

But it warned against reducing income tax relief on pensions contributions for higher rate earners, describing such a move as 'damaging, complex and inequitable'.