The Pensions Trust has seen membership grow from around 100,000 members in 2003, comprising of 100,000 defined benefit (DB) members and only 1,600 defined contribution (DC) members, to more than 200,000 today. With the evolution from traditional final salary DB schemes to career average and DC schemes as we know it today, the Trust’s membership is now made up of 128,000 DB members and 75,000 DC members.
Sarah Smart, Chair of Trustee Board at The Pensions Trust, said: “Reaching 200,000 members is a huge milestone for The Pensions Trust, and illustrates just how far we have come as an organisation. The Trust has evolved over time, and has developed and adapted its offering in line with the evolution of the pensions and retirement landscape, ensuring that it can always deliver retirement solutions that have its members’ best interests at heart. We genuinely believe in the need for people who work in the charitable and not-for-profit sectors to have the quality of life in retirement that a decent pension offers. We also understand the needs of the employers in our sector too – after all we are not-for-profit ourselves.
“I expect the build up to our next 100,000 members will see more considerable shifts within the pensions space, particularly as we move further away from the more traditional DB approach. The introduction of the charge cap next year, along with the reforms announced in the Chancellor’s Budget that will ultimately mean an end to restrictions on how people withdraw money from their pensions, are just a couple of examples of significant changes we will see within the next year alone. The Pensions Trust is committed to adapting with these changes, and pledges to members that it will continue to develop its offering in line with the changing landscape to ensure its members have the best possible pension options available to them.”
The Pensions Trust timeline since 2003
From a DB perspective, membership has not stood still. Employers continue to be attracted to The Pensions Trust’s governance model which combines the efficiencies a circa £6.0bn fund brings with the effectiveness of separation from employers. The Trust’s DB offering has been constantly evolving to ensure that it makes membership worthwhile for its employers and members. The late 2000s saw the development of hybrid benefits for larger multi-employer DB arrangements through the introduction of DC to their largest multi-employer DB arrangement in 2010. This opened-up a range of possibilities for employers concerned about the risks DB accrual posed in a multi-employer environment.
The 200,000 member milestone follows the advent of auto-enrolment and the launch of two award-winning enhancements to its offering. In 2012 The Pensions Trust launched its auto-enrolment countdown service to assist employers and guide them through every step of the auto-enrolment process, including a staging date tool and a cost calculator. So far, this service has helped over 300 employers in the build-up to auto-enrolling their businesses. This year alone, active membership has jumped by around 100%.
In 2013, The Pensions Trust launched its SmarterPensions platform offering auto-enrolment compliant DC schemes. As well as offering a Target Date Funds strategy as its default option to ensure a more tailored investment approach for members, the platform also offers Ethical Fund options including Ethical Target Date Funds, as well as providing member and employer services and support, online modellers and investment information. At the same time, the Trust also made changes to its pricing structure to ensure that its funds are competitively priced. All this was achieved while still providing an industry leading and award winning approach to investment.
The Pensions Trust’s DC investment strategy, offers members the opportunity to tailor their investment choices through a self-select mechanism, meaning that members can choose a retirement solution that is truly bespoke. In addition, last year, the Trust enhanced its responsible investment strategy, incorporating an environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy, making a crucial step in ensuring it provides the best possible pension solutions for the charitable and voluntary sectors.
|
