English UK Pension Scheme Prospectus

Transcription

1 English UK Pension Scheme Prospectus Endsleigh Independent Financial Services Ltd. 18 th October

2 English UK defined contribution pension scheme proposal Endsleigh is proposing the design, implementation and ongoing management of an English UK Pension scheme available to all English UK Language Schools. It is designed to meet the following objectives. Auto-enrolment compliancy Members will have a fully compliant solution to meet their auto-enrolment responsibilities. As part of the legislation, the pension scheme used for auto-enrolment must pass a quality test. Endsleigh will ensure the proposed scheme meets all relevant quality criteria, and will work with members to ensure they comply with the auto-enrolment obligations. Flexibility Members will be able to set specific contribution levels and individual employees will have flexibility to set their own contribution levels (above the minimum) based upon their personal circumstances. If an employee moves jobs between members that both offer access to the English UK Pension Scheme; the employee will be able to move their pension over to their new employer within the scheme without penalty. If the employee moves to an employer outside English UK; they can choose to either leave their pension fund invested in the scheme, or transfer the funds elsewhere. Economies of scale benefits By acting together members can command a level of service and a price that no single Language School could achieve. This will drive the ongoing management charge (fee charged on all contributions by the provider) down to between 0.4%-0.6%, from the 1% an individual Language School might expect to pay. Tax efficiency Costs of pension planning for members and their employees can be reduced through making contributions via salary sacrifice. Salary sacrifice is an arrangement where an employee agrees to give up part of their salary in return for a non-cash benefit. This non-cash benefit can be a pension contribution made by the employer on behalf of the employee. Normally, employee pension contributions are eligible for tax relief, and the employer and employee pay National Insurance. With salary sacrifice, contributions are still eligible for tax relief, but lower national insurance is payable by both parties because the employee s salary has been reduced. Investment Performance and Governance Endsleigh will ensure the default investment option remains appropriate to the broad needs of employees, reporting on indicators including past performance, volatility, risk, investment diversity, asset allocation and future expectations of the default investment option, and provide advice and recommendations for any changes where necessary. Employees will be able to choose their own investment funds rather than leaving their money invested in the default option. Endsleigh can provide advice for individual employees to help them select suitable investment funds, and will also review the wider fund offering made available to employees to ensure this remains appropriate to their needs. Easy administration Members will receive full administrative support for the pension scheme, both at the set-up stage and ongoing, including at the auto-enrolment staging dates. 2

3 Endsleigh s initial and ongoing service The proposal for an English UK pension scheme will include delivery of three main areas of service: Advice Endsleigh will work with English UK to consult on the key aspects of pension scheme design and provide project management throughout the process of designing a scheme. This will involve a tender process to find the most suitable provider and performing a thorough due diligence process for any recommended provider. Implementation While the scheme is being built, Endsleigh will create a suite of communications materials for English UK, designed to help members and their employees understand the value of the scheme. This would take the shape of a website, and employer and employee guides. To accommodate specific requirements, members will have a menu of advice, products and services to choose from to ensure the correct level of service is delivered. For example, these may include: Advice on the suitability of using the English UK Pension Scheme as a retirement savings vehicle for their employees. Advice on transferring existing Group / Personal Pension Schemes into the English UK Pension Scheme Provide additional tailored employee communications (see below for further details) Independent advice on employee benefits (e.g. Group Life Cover, Group Private Medical Insurance, Group Income Protection etc) Ongoing management Endsleigh will provide an ongoing management and advice service aimed at supporting the interests of English UK member centres and their employees, including the following features: Annual Pension Scheme Review: To ensure that the scheme remains competitive and appropriate to the needs of English UK, its members and employees. Ongoing Legislative Guidance: To ensure that the pension scheme meets any new compliance and regulatory standards required. This includes guidance with auto-enrolment legislation and beyond. Scheme Investment Performance and Governance: Endsleigh will report to English UK and provide advice on the ongoing suitability and performance of the default investment fund. Administration: Full administrative support for the pension scheme for Language Schools and employees. Including a dedicated telephone helpline service for employees and HR / Payroll staff. Ongoing Workplace Communications: Endsleigh will provide workplace seminars and presentations for employees. Auto-enrolment will affect most English UK private sector members over the next 2-3 years. Members that want to begin auto-enrolling employees at the time of joining a proposed scheme will be provided with advice at this stage. However, many members will wish to join the pension scheme but not auto-enrol employees into the scheme until the legislation commits them to doing so. Endsleigh will provide these members with further advice on their autoenrolment obligations at a later date as part of our ongoing advice service. 3

4 Background: the evolving pensions landscape Endsleigh provide advice to a significant number of education bodies, charities and unions. Through this, they have built up expert understanding of the challenges posed by the changing pensions landscape that organisations in these sectors will face. Auto-enrolment The Pensions Act 2008 introduced new legislation that will have a significant impact on the way pension benefits are offered by all employers. Key points of this new legislation include: Employers must automatically enrol all eligible employees into a pension scheme, and make contributions on their behalf Minimum contribution levels (expressed as a % of qualifying earnings) have been set as follows: o 3% employer o 4% employee o 1% tax relief Employees can elect to opt-out, but employers must re-enrol all eligible workers back into the pension scheme every 3 years The legislation is due to be phased in from 2012 Employers are not permitted to give their employees any advice to help them to decide whether to join the scheme, whether it is suitable for them or where they should invest Defined benefit to defined contribution transition Many organisations over the last 10 years have chosen to close or restrict the availability of their defined benefit schemes. This has given rise to the development of more comprehensive, competitively priced defined contribution alternatives. Employers are seeking to limit exposure to the risk posed by the possibility of under-performance of a defined benefit scheme, or the economic factors which can also result in deficits. Inadequately managed / expensive defined contribution schemes Through a combination of high annual management and financial advice charges, and poor ongoing scheme management, many organisations are failing to deliver a desirable solution for employees who hold funds within these schemes and depend on these pensions for their retirement. Lack of relevant support As a result of new auto-enrolment legislation, many employers will face new administrative burdens, compliance risks and substantial increases in pension contributions. Particularly in advising smaller charities, membership-based organisations and firms, Endsleigh has found that they tend to have little in-house expertise in pensions. Awareness amongst employees of the importance of pensions and retirement planning is also usually low. The result is a poor take-up of work-based pension schemes. 4

5 About Endsleigh Endsleigh Insurance Services Limited Founded by the National Union of Students (NUS) in 1965, Endsleigh has grown to become one of the UK s leading insurance and financial services intermediaries, and the UK s largest student insurance provider. Now part of the Zurich group, their unique relationship with the NUS and a number of other trade unions, membership organisations and affinity groups has seen them create a unique place in the insurance market. Endsleigh Independent Financial Services Ltd. Endsleigh Independent Financial Services Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Endsleigh Insurance Services Ltd. and is regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to provide independent financial advice on investment business (COB), mortgages (MCOB) and general insurance products (life assurance, income protection etc) (ICOB). Endsleigh provide independent financial advice and products to individuals, companies, affinity groups and membership organisations and have an extensive scope of experience in the advice and implementation of group pensions schemes for trade unions, networks, and membership organisations. For more information about Endsleigh and Endsleigh Financial Services Ltd please visit 5