Providers’ workplace pension products have been put to the test by financial research consultants F&TRC.
In its latest annual report F&TRC looked at workplace pensions and auto enrolment products in 2017, awarding each participating provider a ranking from gold to bronze.
The consultants scored both providers’ overall proposition and auto enrolment functionality, as well as their performance in nine sub-categories from product charges to education.
Aegon, Aviva, Royal London and Scottish Widows emerged top in both the workplace pensions and auto enrolment categories, while Salvus Master Trust was also awarded gold for its auto enrolment offering.
| Workplace Pensions | Auto-Enrolment |
GOLD | Aegon Aviva- Designer Aviva– MyMoney Royal London Scottish Widows | Aegon Aviva- Designer Royal London Salvus Master Trust Scottish Widows |
SILVER | Salvus Master Trust Zurich | Aviva- MyMoney NOW:Pensions |
BRONZE | NEST NOW:Pensions The People’s Pension | NEST The People’s Pension Zurich |
Asked to be not rated | Legal & General Standard Life | Legal & General Standard Life |
In the sub categories Scottish Widows, Royal London and Aegon fared best, scoring 9, 7 and 5 top marks respectively for their workplace offerings and 7, 8 and 7 golds for their auto enrolment products.
Jason Green, head of workplace research at F&TRC, said: “Selecting the right workplace pension scheme is a decision which can impact an employee’s financial wellbeing for decades and the choice can be overwhelming.
“Different pension providers have different strengths, some offer budget services, with others offering more comprehensive solutions. We have created these ratings to help employers and advisers make the right decisions.”
| AEGON Workplace ARC | AVIVA Designer | AVIVA MyMoney | NEST | NOW Pensions | Royal London | Salvus Master Trust | Scottish Widows | The People's Pension | Zurich |
Overall Workplace Pensions award | GOLD | GOLD | GOLD | BRONZE | BRONZE | GOLD | SILVER | GOLD | BRONZE | SILVER |
Workplace Pensions - number of gold out of nine | 5 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 3 |
| | | | | | | | | | |
Overall Auto-Enrolment award | GOLD | GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | SILVER | GOLD | GOLD | GOLD | BRONZE | BRONZE |
Auto-Enrolment - number of gold out of nine | 7 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 2 |
