Auto-enrolmentOct 17 2016

F&TRC rates workplace pension providers

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F&TRC rates workplace pension providers

Aegon, Aviva, Johnson Fleming, Royal London, Standard Life have been deemed gold standard automatic enrolment providers

Financial research consultants F&TRC today (17 October) announced its annual product ratings for workplace pensions and auto-enrolment for 2016. 

The ratings are designed to assist advisers and employers in their decision-making process, by showing which providers have greatest strengths in different areas of their propositions.

Each provider has been awarded either a gold, silver or bronze medal for both their overall proposition as well as in nine key underlying sub-categories to recognise individual areas of excellence. 

The categories analysed and weighted in the overall results reflect the features selected and prioritised most often, based on thousands of online comparisons conducted by corporate advisers using F&TRC’s Quality Analyser software. 

For workplace pensions,  Aegon, Aviva, Friends Life, Royal London, Standard Life scooped a gold award, Now: Pensions and The People’s Pension were deemed worthy of silver and no provider received a bronze medal.

For auto-enrolment, Aegon, Aviva, Johnson Fleming, Royal London, Standard Life were deemed worthy of gold, Friends Life, The People’s Pension, True Potential got silver and Nest plus Now: Pensions got bronze.

FTRC’s Workplace Pensions ratings and data looks at a provider’s entire pension offering, including the auto-enrolment process and functionality. 

By comparison, the auto-enrolment ratings solely focuses on the quality and functionality of a provider’s offing in that space alone. 

Ian McKenna, director of F&TRC, said: “Selecting the right workplace pension scheme is a decision which can impact an employee’s financial wellbeing for decades. 

“Different pension providers have different strengths, some offer budget type services, with others offering more comprehensive solutions. 

“Our ratings are designed to make it easier for employers and advisers to recognise the difference between various propositions.

“Whilst ideally advisers would conduct a full analysis report using our software (which is free to all adviser members of the Personal Finance Society), for employers and advisers looking to make a quick recommendation the ratings provide an independent measure they can use to inform decisions”

Mark Pemberthy, director at JLT Employee Benefits, said: "We have worked closely with F&TRC for several years. 

“Their extensive research plays a valuable part in our due diligence process and provides a flexible basis for comparing features and functionality between pension providers.”

emma.hughes@ft.com