Ernest Grant

Trust based ‘Occupational’ pension schemes come in all shapes and sizes. At Ernest Grant, our advisers offer a variety of services to sponsoring employers and/or Trustees across the piste.

From 6 April 2015, Trustees of defined contribution (DC) schemes had to meet new requirements on governance standards, charge controls (subject to certain exceptions) and communicating about pension flexibility. The requirements include:

• Meeting certain governance standards and explaining this in an annual chair’s statement
• Appointing a chair of Trustees who signs the annual statement
• Meeting new charge controls for their default arrangements where the scheme is being used; by employers to comply with their automatic enrolment duties
• Deciding whether to use the adjustment measure so that the charge cap won’t apply for a particular default arrangement
• Informing members about the increased range of options they have at retirement.

Meeting the new requirements can be onerous and it is important that scheme Trustees understand what they need to do and report accordingly. From experience, we’ve found a lack of clear direction from scheme advisers/consultants which can lead to issues such as:

• Poor administration practices
• Poor investment governance
• Unduly high fees/charges
• Lack of advice
• Slow decision-making
• Poor retirement options
• Lack of member understanding and engagement

We believe in clear outcomes for our clients and where needed we work alongside trusted professionals to deliver high standards across all aspects of service. We aim to make sure we provide clarity of advice.

Our workplace pensions team specialise in the following:

• Advisory services to sponsoring employers and/or scheme Trustees
• Investment consultancy services to Trustees
• Scheme ‘wind-up’ options for defined contribution schemes
• Advisory services for Trust based to Contract based arrangements
• Staff communications and advice, including financial education

Workplace Pensions are regulated by The Pensions Regulator.