The Shell Contributory Pension Fund (SCPF)

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1 The Shell Contributory Pension Fund (SCPF) Transfers Into the SCPF - Factsheet Introduction Under the terms of the Trust Deed, it is generally possible for the SCPF to accept a transfer payment for you from any registered pension scheme in the UK (including individual arrangements such as Section 32 Buy-Out Annuities or Personal Pension Schemes) and from certain overseas arrangements. The Company currently allows transfers into the SCPF and, for the time being, transfer payments can be accepted while you are an active member of the SCPF. Note that it is at Company discretion as to whether to continue to accept transfers into the SCPF. The Company reviews this from time to time. The purpose of this factsheet is to provide you with some general information on transfers in. It describes how the process works and suggests questions you should ask before making a decision. Please note, however, that advice on transfers can only be given by a person or institution authorised to do so under the Financial Services and Markets Act The Trustee, Shell companies and their employees cannot give you financial advice regarding your pension decisions; this includes recommending independent financial advisers. Examining the possibilities If you wish to explore the possibilities of a transfer into the SCPF, you should first contact the administrator of your former employer s pension scheme or the provider of your Section 32 Buy- Out Annuity / Personal Pension and ask for details of the amount of the transfer payment available and the conditions attaching to it, to be sent to: Pensions Administration Team (FT/P) Shell International Limited Shell Centre London SE1 7NA At the same time, you should get a statement of the pension due to you from your previous scheme/arrangement including details of the date on which it will become payable, the details of any increases that are due on it (both before and after it comes into payment) and any spouse s, dependant's or children s pensions payable in the event of your death. This will help you to compare the benefits provided from your previous scheme with those offered by the SCPF. On receipt of the relevant details from the administrator of your previous scheme the SCPF administrator will calculate how many extra years of pensionable service can be provided for the transfer payment. Your Pension from the SCPF If you joined the SCPF prior to 1 January 2009 then your pension from the SCPF will:

2 be calculated on the basis of 1/54 th of your final pensionable salary for each year of pensionable service; and be payable from pension age of 60. If you joined pensionable service of the SCPF on or after 1 January 2009 then your pension will: be calculated on the basis of 1/60th of your final pensionable salary for each year of pensionable service; and be payable from pension age of 65. There are other differences between the two sections of the SCPF. Full details are given in the SCPF Explanatory Booklet. Calculation of additional service The Pensions Administration Team will calculate the number of additional years of pensionable service your transfer value will buy for you in the SCPF within two months of receiving all the necessary information to proceed with the calculation. The object of the calculation is to ensure you receive full value for your transfer payments without creating additional cost for the SCPF. The calculation takes into account various factors and assumptions including: the current level of your pensionable salary; the likely increases to your pensionable salary between the calculation date and your pension age; the expected future interest on the money received; the anticipated cost of living increases which will be applied to your pension in payment and; the expected period that your pension (and any qualifying spouse s pension ) will be paid for. The assumptions used to calculate the additional service that your transfer value will buy are determined by the Trustee having taken advice from the Scheme Actuary. Please note that the Trustee reviews these assumptions from time to time. A summary of the current assumptions is included at the back of this factsheet. In order to ensure the cost of providing the additional service is consistent with the transfer value received, the financial assumptions underlying the calculations are based on up-to-date financial conditions. Please note that changes to the above assumptions (between the calculation date and the final payment date) may result in changes to the additional service you receive in the SCPF. Changes to your pensionable salary, your age and financial market conditions may mean that the additional service you receive once the final payment of your transfer value is received is different to that shown in your original quotation (even if your transfer value does not change from the original quotation).

3 Additional Service Offered In practice, it is unlikely that the pensionable service you are offered in the SCPF will correspond to the number of years spent in your previous scheme. This is because The benefits offered in the SCPF may be very different from those in your previous scheme. The pension age in the SCPF may be different from that in your previous scheme the lower the pension age, the longer the pension is likely to be paid and so the more expensive the pension. It is probable that the transfer payment will represent the value of your benefits in your previous scheme based on your salary at date of leaving that scheme, whereas the additional pensionable service offered by the SCPF in respect of that transfer payment will reflect your current pensionable salary in the SCPF and your expected pensionable salary at your pension age. Your Decision Once you know how many extra years of pensionable service will be offered in the SCPF, you should try and compare the benefits these years of pensionable service will give you with the benefits from your previous scheme. This is a complicated exercise, but some of the questions you should ask yourself are: What salary am I likely to be earning when I retire? How much pension will the extra years of pensionable service provide at pension age? How much pension is it likely I will have from my previous scheme? Once the pension is in payment, will it keep pace with inflation? What other benefits does my previous scheme offer? A pension for my spouse/civil partner or dependants? Children s pensions? Lump sum benefits? How do these compare with the extra benefits from the SCPF? FINANCIAL ADVICE The decision to transfer your benefits is a complicated one as it is difficult to make direct comparisons between different pension arrangements. The Trustee, Shell companies and their employees cannot give you financial advice regarding your pension decisions; this includes recommending independent financial advisers. It is recommended that you take independent financial advice. If you do not already use a financial advisor, IFA Promotion Limited s website, will give you a list of independent financial advisers in your area. The Financial Services Authority (the regulator for the industry) provides information for consumers about all aspects of financial planning, including how to find an adviser and what questions to ask. Their website is

4 Procedure for transferring into the SCPF Obtain a CETV quotation from the trustee of your previous pension scheme or pension provider Request a transfer-in quotation from the Pensions Administration Team detailing the benefits available from the transfer. This will be sent to you within 2 months of the request. If you want to proceed with the transfer, the waiver form and any relevant documentation from the transferring pension scheme must be completed by you and returned to the Pensions Administration Team. On receipt of the waiver form, the Pensions Administration Team will request payment, from the trustee of your previous pension scheme or pension provider, of the transfer value to the SCPF. When the transfer payment has been received, the Pensions Administration Team will confirm receipt and write to you to confirm additional service (note this could be different from that in the original quotation). Your record will be updated to include additional service. If you require details of benefits available from a transfer into the SCPF please write to: Pensions Administration Team, Trustee Services Unit, (FT/P) Shell International Limited, Shell Centre London, SE1 7NA pensions-administration-london-l@shell.com

5 Shell Contributory Pension Fund - Summary of Assumptions for Transfers The cash equivalent transfer value (CETV) is calculated as the present value of accrued benefits, projected to the assumed date of payment and discounted back to the effective date of calculation, using appropriate actuarial assumptions. The same assumptions are used for divorce cases. For transfers-in, the back service credit is calculated using the same assumptions as for the CETV, and also makes allowance for future expected salary increases. The assumptions are set on a monthly basis, using the financial conditions on the last working day of the preceding month. A summary of the main underlying assumptions is as follows: Financial assumptions Discount rate Future price inflation Pension increases Salary increases Assumed returns on UK gilts plus 1.5% p.a. Implied by fixed and index-linked UK gilt yields Based on inflation, allowing for any minimum and maximum increases 2% p.a. in excess of inflation plus an allowance for promotional increases Demographic assumptions Post-retirement mortality Marital assumptions Commutation 97% of S1PMA table for males, incorporating future improvements in line with 80% of the long cohort projections from 2002 and with a minimum rate of improvement to the underlying mortality rates of 1.25% p.a. 97% of S1PFA table for females, incorporating future improvements in line with 60% of the long cohort projections from 2002 and with a minimum rate of improvement to the underlying mortality rates of 1.25% p.a. 88% of members married at retirement. A husband is assumed to be 3 years older than his wife. Other Expenses Discretionary benefits Options Under-funding TVIN March 2011 A funeral benefit is payable on death in retirement at the discretion of the Trustee for members of the pre 2009 Section only. Allowance is made for this benefit for calculations for members of the pre 2009 section. No allowance is made for any other benefits payable at the discretion of the Trustee. No adjustment is made on account of under-funding.