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Our event highlights.
25th March 2015
On Wednesday 25th February 2015, we hosted the Pension Changes Event at The Shard to discuss what the impending pension changes could mean for employers and employees.
The Shard was a fantastic venue, with attendees being able to enjoy a spectacular view from St Pauls Cathedral across to Canary Wharf and more. Please view our image gallery to see more.
The session was opened by Jonathan Watts-Lay, Director, WEALTH at work and included other key industry professionals from BT, Kingfisher plc and United Utilities. In addition, there was a panel discussion at the end of the session which included open questions from the audience. It raised some interesting points for discussion.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank those who attended our event – we hope it was useful and informative.
If you would like to download a copy of the presentation from the event please click below.
WEALTH at work Pension Changes Event Presentation
Image Gallery
Panel Discussion
The panel included:
Jonathan Watts-Lay, Director, WEALTH at work
Dermot Courtier, Head of Group Pensions, Kingfisher plc
Kevin O’Boyle, Group Head of Pensions & Benefits, BT
Jane Griffiths, Head of Corporate Relationships, WEALTH at work
Steven Robson FMPI, Head of Pensions, United Utilities
Mark Hewitson, Head of Retirement Income Options, WEALTH at work
The following are a selection of questions that were asked by the audience;
Do you foresee the next Government removing 25% cash lump sum tax break?
I think that potentially higher rate tax payers could lose relief as the vast majority of voters aren’t paying higher rate tax.Kevin O'Boyle
Changes come into place April 2015, how long do employers have to comply with the new legislation?
–If I ignore the word comply – the question you’re going to have to answer on the 6th April is if employees say “I do want my cash”. What are you going to say? How are people going to access money from their funds if they want it?Mark Hewitson
… employers will need to look at employee engagement at least 5 years prior to retirement to accommodate investment life styling; with this guidance being offered at this point is the guidance guarantee not somewhat redundant 4-6 months prior to retirement?
We talk now about 10 – 15 years before retirement, we talk about starting to educate our members of the scheme from around 52-53.Dermot Courtier
What is the best way to get employees to engage with their retirement and attend financial education sessions?
I suppose the buzzword is engagement, if you do a single intervention it’s often hard to get engagement as people don’t often understand all that they need to know, but as long as you can whet their appetite you can build on that and then you almost go to the other end of the spectrum which BT are experiencing now where we end up with waiting lists and people cannot wait to sign up. That is the ultimate engagement and to be frank you will never achieve that with a brochure or information on an intranet site.Jonathan Watts-Lay
Do you think the word retirement will mean the same in the future?
If someone is 55 and they have got a DC pot and they can start to access it and you can’t stop them, does it mean that they start to dip in and pay the mortgage off and help their children? That is not why we are paying material amounts of money into a DC fund for them. We are doing it so they can have a reasonable retirement and not a savings plan that gets spent before they retire and then cannot afford to ever retire.Steven Robson
About employees that are already on a glide path, with the changes that are coming in April what should be done about their default fund?
We will be moving everybody’s glide path, we currently have a ‘5 year to annuity’ lifestyle arrangement and everybody will be going into a ‘10 years to cash’ lifestyle position. We are automatically moving people and have communication going out in March to explain what we are doing and why we are doing it. Then we will be running sessions in April and May to talk them through this and to explain about the choices and freedoms.Steven Robson
We have a young and small work force. How much communication should we be doing bearing in mind the regulations are likely to change again in X years’ time?
We deal with early career right the way through to end of career. Start communicating with your work force, be it at any age, getting them engaged in understanding what saving for retirement is all about and making sure they understand what is available to them. The sooner you start the better it is for putting them in the right position later in their careers.Jane Griffiths
If you would like to download a copy of the panel discussion please click below.
Pension Changes Event Panel Discussion (884 downloads)
What our attendees had to say:
“It was very well organised, good location, excellent content, really interesting speakers and very well paced. One of the best events I have attended and really pertinent in its content.”
“The length of each session was just right and a good selection of speakers and topics so well done to everyone involved.”
“I found this seminar really useful and my knowledge has been hugely increased. Really worthwhile.”
“Very good session – impressive venue – good speakers and topic highly relevant.”
“Excellent presentations. Clear, concise and interesting. Thank you!”
“I liked the panel discussion – very engaging.”
“Very enjoyable & engaging which can often be difficult to achieve when discussing pensions.”
“Raised some interesting issues that I will be raising at the next trustees meeting.”
“Relevant content and good selection of presenters.”
“Really interesting event. Good mix of speakers.”
“Well organised event, ran on time. I sat at the back and could hear all speakers. Content of each session was relevant to event, succinct and useful.”
“Very informative and relevant.”
“Venue – super views at The Shard. Good service. Excellent speakers. Thank you.”
For more information please contact us.
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