Defined Contribution

PP Scheme Excellence interviews: Jonathan Stapleton talks to Marks & Spencer’s Julie Parker-Welch about its AE master trust

Friends Life has launched its auto-enrolment offering for employers.

Trustees of defined contribution schemes must do more to help members purchase retirement income products at the end of their careers, experts warn.

Around two-thirds of employers and employees are supportive of the Department for Work and Pensions ‘pot follows member' plans, according to research from Aviva.

More than a third of employees (37%) plan to opt out of auto-enrolment, while a further 28% are considering withdrawing from the scheme, research from Aviva says.

The mandatory code of conduct on retirement choices for all Association of British Insurers (ABI) members, set to be enforced from 1 March, must go further to better help consumers, annuity campaigners have said.

The National Association of Pension Funds-backed Pension Quality Mark is to lower its cap on charges for auto-enrolment schemes from 1% to 0.75%.

Randstad has appointed Now:Pensions as its auto-enrolment provider for its 20,000 agency workers.

Multinational employers set up 33 new international pension plans over 2012 according to figures from Towers Watson.

Policy makers should ensure that defined contribution communications incorporate the latest developments in behavioural economics, says the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority.