Defined Contribution (DC) pension arrangements offer great flexibility for both employer and employee, and are becoming more and more popular. However, it takes careful planning and management to make them achieve maximum performance.

As part of a company’s commitment to employees, the DC plan should be easy to understand, well administered and offer the best possible benefits at retirement. From an employer’s perspective it is important to get the best possible value from the plan and to be confident that the most appropriate external advisors (such as investment managers and administers) are appointed.

Selecting the Best

We have been advising employers and pension management boards on the design and operation of DC occupational pension plans for many years. We use specialist skills and techniques to address key issues, such as:

• Plan Structure—we are experts on the legal aspects of implementation, offering advice on issues such as whether a plan should be structured as a separate trust or as part of, for example, an existing final salary plan.
• Benefit Design—we use the latest modelling programmes to model the contribution levels employers will pay, in order to strike the right balance between what the employee desires and what the employer can afford.
• Investment Opportunities—the in-depth research carried out by our investment department and the quality of our investment analysis, distinguishes us from our competitors. We help to develop ‘default’ lifestyle strategies that balance risk and return for members.
• Administration Requirements—we offer objective, expert advice on whether to undertake administration in-house or outsource it to a third party. This is based on our extensive knowledge of the administration marketplace and our own experience as a provider of outsourced administration services.
• Communications—we help clients to make sure that their communications will be effective. Our involvement ranges from appraising and checking strategy and materials to producing clear, high quality communications which meet all legislative requirements on behalf of our clients.

Contact Tony Baily via email or by phone at +44 (0) 20 7939 4423, or Andy Cheseldine via email or by phone at +44 (0) 20 7939 4647.