Almost half (45%) of employers are set to automatically enrol all employees into their existing pension schemes ahead of the introduction of personal accounts in 2012.
Of the 271 employers with occupational pension plans which took part in the Annual pension scheme administration survey commissioned by Capita Hartshead, 53% said they will review their schemes because of the impending introduction of personal accounts and 31% were likely to revise benefits.
To reduce the cost of the transition, a quarter of employers said they might auto-enrol some staff into personal accounts directly, even though this may have a negative impact on recruitment and retention.
The vast majority of employers with schemes (95%) expect the shift to auto-enrolment not to have any adverse effects on their current schemes, and only 5% said it would lead them to close their current scheme in favour of personal accounts.
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Occupational pension schemes
Employers that believe auto-enrolment would not have an adverse affect on their current schemes 95%
Firms reviewing their schemes as a result of personal accounts 53%
Employers likely to enrol employees into existing pension schemes ahead of personal accounts 45%
Employers that may enrol some employees into personal accounts rather than existing schemes to reduce costs 25%
Employers that believe auto-enrolment would force them to close existing schemes in favour of personal accounts 5%
(Source: Capita Hartshed Annual Pension Scheme Administration Survey)