So far 43,000 firms have staged auto-enrolment, in 2015 45,000 employers will stage and in January 2016 alone over 100,000 firms will stage. Whereas most employers who have staged so far will have had workplace pensions and advisers, the 1.25m employers still to stage and the estimated 250,000 employers born each year, will almost all have to “choose a pension
Our first question is “who is doing the choosing and who is providing support”
In big picture terms it is payroll who are furthest down the line with IFAs not far behind. Accountants lag – but the detail is fascinating
Choosing a pension and communicating that choice is low on an employer’s “worry list”
But it is something that over three quarters of SMEs and Micros expect support on
When it comes to support, most employers want an intermeidary, preferably their accountant
Accountants know very little about auto-enrolment compared to IFAs and payroll bureaux
And they are not ready to help
Most of the help that is out there comes from IFAs and Payroll Bureaux
Payroll bureaux see auto-enrolment as a big opportunity, IFAs are not so suce and accountants are very dubious
Normally Accountants are nervous about working with IFAs
But when it comes to auto-enrolment, it’s a different story
Some conclusions
Though accountants are the trusted advisers, they will probably defer decision making to IFAs and Payroll providers who are hungrier for the business.
IFAs and payroll bureaux, have mostly got their propositions in order.
But they do not have a “choose a pension” service.
Of the 43,000 employers who have staged so far, 11,000 have staged with NEST, the majority of these were as a result of “non-decisions”.
We don’t think it’s good for NEST to be the only provider considered, it’s not good for employers and it’s certainly not good for workers,
www.pensionplaypen.com aims to be the obvious solution for IFAs, accountants, payroll software suppliers, payroll bureaux and employers to “choose a pension”.
If you are interested in being part of the solution- go to www.pensionplaypen.com/register
Source for all graphics; NEST Insight (January 2015).
We do have a “choose a pension service” but it is of course more expensive, and may not be good value for money as the number of employees per scheme reduces for employers staging in the next two to three years. One has to remember that the vast majority of choice will have disappeared by the time that the smaller and newer employers hit their staging dates. Most major pension providers will have already closed their doors to all but the lowest turnover highest salary/pension contribution employers, so in reality the “choice” will be NEST or one of the master trust companies. AE is more about choosing the best assessment and statutory communication software for most employers. Only a relatively small number are concerned with the quality of the pension scheme itself. If they cared more about offering decent pensions to their employees then they would already have a scheme in place. I am not commenting on the morality of their views, but just commenting that most employers are more concerned with compliance than quality of offering.
What would you consider the correct price point to get employers to pay for a choose a pension service Brian?
Great article, the stats are starting to prove the initial fears which were widely broadcast. AE is not your Accountant’s bag and payroll has no financial experience to choose a pension, IFA’s are just too expensive on any scale…….seek help from a volume provider who will take the hard work out of the process for a fixed cost!
Louise, would you like to accept the job of being http://www.pensionplaypen.com ‘s marketing manager?