Too much investment choice can overwhelm your employees.

Most Defined Contribution schemes offer an enormous range of investment options, despite research revealing that too much choice confuses members and leaves them feeling dissatisfied.

To help them, it’s a legal requirement to set up a default way of investing. Unless members actively decide otherwise, and only 5% do, their contributions are paid into the default fund. That makes it really important to choose a default that suits as many of your members, and their retirement plans, as possible.

The explosive growth in the pensions market has made it much harder to select a provider.

Since auto-enrolment was introduced, more than 70 new organisations have started offering pensions. Selecting a good Defined Contribution pension provider is important but where do you start? The market is incredibly broad ‒ varying from mass market auto-enrolment schemes, to insurance companies and niche providers. And as many organisations discover to their cost, not all of them are fit for purpose.

Every employer must comply with auto-enrolment.

Employers now need to work out which of their employees have to be automatically enrolled into a new type of pension scheme. At first, these rules affected the very largest employers first, but now all employers need to comply.

Unfortunately auto-enrolment is not a one-off job. Assessing who needs to be enrolled has to be done each time employees are paid, and those who have previously chosen to leave the pension scheme have to be put back in the scheme every three years.

Employers need to comply with the communication and record-keeping requirements. They must undertake and submit regular certifications and declarations of compliance. Over time, they will also have to pay for the increase in minimum contributions.

The design of any pension scheme is crucial to its success.

Organisations vary hugely in their reasons for offering pension schemes. For some, it’s just about complying with legislation. Others are keen to match the benefits their competitors are offering. And many simply want to provide a high quality package of benefits to their employees.

Our approach to design is bespoke to you and your employees – we will work with you to design a Defined Contribution scheme that meets your needs and is appropriate for your employees.

Uninformed scheme members are less likely to engage.

A good quality Defined Contribution scheme is a key benefit that employers offer to recruit and retain the skilled individuals they need. But the best pension scheme in the world will only give your organisation limited value if members don’t understand the benefits on offer.

Everyone benefits if you take the time to explain your scheme to employees, and we can help you do this in a cost-effective way.

Growing numbers of people feel insecure about their finances ‒ surveys confirm this. Today’s employees may not be as confident about their pensions as previous generations, and future finances are a real source of worry. When this spills over into the workplace, it can have a serious impact on job performance.

We help your staff improve their financial wellbeing by getting to grips with their pension and personal finances.

Defined Contribution pension schemes come with employer responsibilities.

Contract-based Defined Contribution schemes offer a lighter administrative burden, compared to trust-based or Defined Benefit alternatives. However, employers still need to make sure the scheme is well run and that members receive good quality pensions.

Retirement can seem like a distant prospect, and it’s hard to communicate pension benefits when many employees, especially younger ones, see it as an unwanted expense.

Salary exchange, or salary sacrifice, is an arrangement that is growing in popularity with Defined Contribution schemes.

Salary exchange makes pension contributions more efficient and attractive. It offers National Insurance contribution savings to employees and employers alike, and can also give higher-rate taxpayers full tax relief without the need to claim it through their tax return.

Salary exchange can either reduce your costs, increase member benefits at no additional expense to the company, or a bit of both. And the costs of setting it up are usually paid back within a few years.

We are First Actuarial and we’re on your side.

We help employers like you manage their Defined Contribution arrangements, and support your people with their retirement decisions.

Managing a Defined Contribution scheme can be risky, and any problems fall too easily on ordinary people. At First Actuarial, we research all the main Defined Contribution providers and master trusts. We can then optimise your Defined Contribution arrangements, reduce the risks and safeguard funds and savings.

No one works harder to improve Defined Contribution schemes. We work with government, industry bodies, providers and employers to make pension outcomes better for everyone.