Taking Our Own Advice - Workplace Pensions

As well as looking after many clients’ individual pension arrangements, at Albert Goodman we also work with many companies’ Group (or 'Workplace') Pension Arrangements for employees. Our specialist Group Pensions team, headed up by the effervescent Andrew Hopper offer a range of services, from a one-off analysis, to ongoing governance services.

We have highlighted previously the importance of monitoring and reviewing these pensions on a regular basis, particularly with our Pension Governance Service, but recently we have been taking our own advice, and have not just reviewed the Albert Goodman employee pension scheme, but decided to change it to a new provider altogether. This means a change for all 280 employees.

There are a number of potential benefits to making such changes;

• Lower charges – charges make a difference – a real difference, pension schemes evolve over time, there can be real long-term benefit to members of a scheme which enjoys lower charges.
• Fund Range or Performance – the biggest influence on returns on a member’s pension is how the funds are performing. Some older schemes have a very limited range of funds, and performance can vary hugely.
• Administration – the quality and timeliness of a pension firm’s administration can have huge effects not only for members, but those controlling the schemes. Nobody wants to waste time with unnecessary paperwork or outdated systems.
• Finally, in some cases pension schemes are sold off to consolidator companies. These giant companies may not always have the members’ interests or administration as their highest priorities, and as schemes inevitably leave, service can decline.

We have specialist adviser knowledge of this area of financial planning, along with an experienced support team who can guide you each step of the way, starting with a free initial meeting, to see how we can help.

If you are a Director, Manager or an Employee of a Group Scheme, we would love to hear from you, to see if we can help you, the same way we have helped our own employees to a new group pension arrangement.