After the quieter the summer months of July and August, workplace pensions came back onto the agenda this week.
We can now see the increasing impact of new and incoming changes to pensions on keeping back business and pay growth.
I thought we might be over the worst hits of cost increases for pensions and benefits professionals. But this week the experts have been explaining to me just how much the changes to pensions coming in next April will cost providers, advisers and, ultimately, employers.
The removal of consultancy charging and commissions will see many employers having to start paying fees for the first time.
Both providers and advisers will have to charge differently to make up for lost revenue.
We can expect lots of product reviews and churn to new suppliers, while pensions products will have to be revised to meet the changing pensions rules.
Already, we see have seen below average pay increases being announced even though the economy is on the up. This is no doubt partly because, for many employers, any extra in pay budget money is being hived off into new pensions contributions as auto-enrolments rolls out.
With increases due to these pensions contributions in the next few years, plus the added costs mentioned above, pay increases are now likely to stay low for several years to come.
Debi O’Donovan??
Editor??
Employee Benefits
Twitter: @DebiODonovan