Aegon boosts workplace savings platform with 50% discount

Aegon has launched its workplace savings platform proposition, and will offer employers a 50 per cent reimbursement for the first three months of contributions, Adrian Grace has announced.

The Aegon retirement choices workplace platform will dovetail with the provider’s already established at-retirement proposition, allowing savers to transfer savings accumulated through their working life into Arc’s retirement income solutions.

Mr Grace, chief executive of Aegon UK, said the proposition was “unique”, while also announcing a series of initiatives designed to let advisers, employers and employees make the most out of pension reform and the post-RDR advisory landscape.

He said: “We want auto-enrolment to be adopted quickly and we will be encouraging companies to take up the platform by paying back half of their first three months of pension contributions placed on Arc before the end of 2013.

“We are also offering an auto-enrolment hub to employers for no extra charge.”

The auto-net hub determines which scheme employees should be enrolled on in addition to storing human resource data on scheme eligibility and opt-out statistics, which update the employer when members of staff become eligible for re-enrolment.

Arc also offers a four tier “gating” system which allows clients to choose increasingly more sophisticated investment strategies as their savings and financial circumstances develop.

Reinforcing its commitment to the adviser community, Aegon has assembled a team of more than 300 experts qualified to help advisers through the auto-enrolment transition period and will honour existing commission levels to AE members on existing schemes as long as the profile of the schemes do not change significantly.

Speaking at the launch, Mr Grace said: “Today is not just about unveiling our market leading platform. It is also about demonstrating that Aegon is prepared for the changes ahead.

“We have solutions in place to help advisers write quality business post-RDR and demonstrate their professionalism, and we have initiatives to help employees to engage with pension reform with products and services to help our customers reach their retirement goals.”