Mercer has won contracts to provide 25 clients, including Avery Dennison and Glenmorangie, with its Mercer Workplace Savings (MWS) offering. The recent wins bring the combined assets under management of Mercer’s platform to over £1.3bn. The wins reflect a wide range of different client circumstances and needs, varying from clients who are reviewing their pension and governance arrangements in the light of auto-enrolment legislation to those who are looking to offer savings plans (ISAs and general investment accounts) to their employees as an alternative or supplement to pensions.
Avery Dennison needed a new pension scheme because of a strategic review of the pension platform in its UK businesses. The multiple objectives of the review included competitive design, compliance with forthcoming auto-enrolment legislation, harmonisation of three separate trusts and new provider selection. Helen Bridges, HR Director - Northern Europe at Avery Dennison, said: “We are pleased that Mercer was able to offer us a solution. Different elements of the MWS proposition appealed to different parties – the investment and governance options along with the wider savings pleased both the trustees and the company.”
The leadership team at Glenmorangie was looking to save cost and strengthen the existing governance structures for their defined contribution (DC) arrangements. Ian Drysdale, HR Director at The Glenmorangie Company, stated: "As well as needing a new pension provider, we are aware that in the new context of auto-enrolment we have to tighten up governance processes around our DC arrangements. Mercer’s Workplace Savings solution proved a perfect fit."
Emma Douglas, Head of Mercer Workplace Savings, said: "We are delighted with the early success and we have a very strong pipeline for 2012. Employers have responded to the innovative approach that MWS offers as it addresses their concerns about the escalating costs and risks of benefit provision, the need to enhance member outcomes and the desire for more flexibility in meeting employees' wider savings needs.
"Our solution is completely flexible and clients have chosen the elements that fit their needs. These include investment-only and bundled trust-based plans, GPPs, stand-alone savings plans, which include Cash and Stocks and Shares ISAs, as well as a general investment account and various different combinations of these components. Many of our clients have started by addressing their pension issues and are looking to add wider savings options at a later date."
|
