Aviva and Defaqto have launched a guide for advisers to make sure their employer clients are making the most of auto-enrolment.
One million employers have now enrolled their staff into a workplace pension through auto-enrolment, as the deadline for the last companies to do so ended in February 2018.
According to Defaqto, the secondary market for workplace pensions is “bursting into life”, as many employers are now realising they can change their pension provider to avoid frustrations or save time and money.
The guide, which is CPD accredited, is designed to help advisers identify triggers for change, the firm said.
It will also help advisers to “re-evaluate the suitability of the existing workplace pension scheme, identify ‘good governance’, and evidence ‘value for money’ while highlighting opportunities that benefit all parties,” Defaqto said.
The guide also includes a one page checklist to help guide advisers through the evaluation process and evidence the suitability of their advice.
According to David Cartwright, head of insight for wealth and protection at Defaqto, “while cost and service are common triggers for the workplace pensions to be reviewed, every employer must go through a three yearly re-enrolment process, and this creates the perfect opportunity for advisers to help their employer clients”.
He said: “Some of the best practice guidance we detail within this document is also proposed for future legislation updates by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in their report on auto-enrolment dated 18 December 2017.”
In this review, the DWP announced that the minimum age for workers to be included into workplace pension schemes will be reduced from 22 to 18-years-old, and it will change the way pension contributions are calculated by the mid-2020s.
maria.espadinha@ft.com
