Pensions 'quality mark' looks to lift DC participation

Seven companies have been awarded the mark so far, with Standard Life the only financial services company included in the first wave.

The awards, presented by Angela Eagle, MP, minister of state for pensions, and the Ageing Society, certify that the companies' defined contribution pension schemes have met the key qualifying criteria on contribution rates, governance and communications.

Two-thirds (67 per cent) of employees looking for work said a pension quality mark would make them look more favourably on a potential employer, according to NAPF research.

Also, more than half of the 1305 full and part-time employees (52 per cent), surveyed in August, said that an independent quality mark awarded to their employer's scheme would make it more likely that they would join the company scheme.

Joanne Segars, chief executive of NAPF, said she hoped the mark would help to promote public confidence in workplace pensions.

She called the pension quality mark "an exciting new initiative which will benefit both employers and employees.

"It shows these employers' commitment to encouraging their staff to save for retirement, which is becoming ever more vital."

Brian Beveridge, staff pensions manager for Standard Life, said the firm prided itself on rewarding its employees with attractive benefits packages.

"I am delighted our pensions scheme has been recognised by NAPF as this highlights our commitment to our employees' retirement savings.

"As Standard Life is one of the largest defined contribution pension providers in the UK, it is fitting that our own scheme is up to the mark."

Tony Hobman, chief executive for the Pensions Regulator, said the changing pensions landscape in the context of the economic downturn made it "more important than ever to ensure that standards in pension scheme management continued to improve."

He said: "We encourage any initiative by the pension industry that pushes the quality of pensions and encourages higher standards of governance and member communications."

Rupert Curtis, managing director of Bristol-based pensions consultant Curtis Banks, said "The public are turned off pensions in a big way, partly because they do not understand them and partly because they do not trust them.

However, Mr Banks said any scheme focused on rebuilding confidence in the pensions industry had to be considered good news.