Pensions Supplement 2002 – Results at a glance

Do you offer a pension to all or some staff? [sample: all responents] Yes 98% No 1% Pension plans on offer [sample: all respondents] Which of the following do you offer to some or all of your staff? defined benefit, including final salary, (DB) pension scheme all staff: 22% some staff: 23% defined contribution/money purchase (DC) pension scheme all staff: 20% some staff: 17% group personal pension plan all staff: 26% some staff: 12% stakeholder pension plan all staff: 31% some staff: 15% Reasons for pensions provision [sample: all respondents] What is your organisation¬’s attitude to providing staff with pensions? Organisation feels responsible for employees¬’ long-term financial well-being 69% It¬’s a valuable recruitment tool 66% It¬’s a valuable retention tool 60% Pensions are a tax/NI efficient way of remunerating staff 46% We have to offer a pension scheme because our competitors do 37% We have always provided a pension scheme, so can¬’t stop now 30% The scheme is structured to help us attract the right staff 19% Most staff would prefer to forgo the pension scheme and have more basic pay 5% The staff we most want to attract/retain are not interested in pensions 2% Most staff would prefer to forgo the pension scheme and have different benefits 1% Which, if any, of the following do you plan to close in the next 12 months? [sample: all respondents] Defined benefit, including final salary (DB) pension plan 10% Defined contribution/money purchase (DC) pension plan 6% Group personal pension (GPP) 2% Stakeholder pension plan 1% Which, if any, of the following do you plan to introduce in the next 12 months to replace existing arrangements? [sample: all respondents] Defined benefit, including final salary (DB) pension scheme 1% Defined contribution, money purchase (DC) pension scheme 4% Group personal pension (GPP) 2% Stakeholder pension 2% Which, if any, of the following do you plan to introduce in the next 12 months to supplement existing arrangements? [sample: all respondents] Defined benefit, including final salary (DB) pension scheme 0% Defined contribution, money purchase (DC) pension scheme 3% Group personal pension (GPP) 3% Stakeholder pension 4% Impact of stakeholder pensions [sample: all respondents] Organisations¬’ views of the impact of stakeholder pensions hasn¬’t made any difference to pension provision 35% Is being used by the better-off as an AVC due to the tax structure 30% Has genuinely extended pension provision choice 25% Stakeholder will provide inadequate pensions 25% Over time employers will stop offering other schemes and opt for stakeholder21% Merely duplicates opportunities available through existing schemes 20% Welcome the opportunity to extend pension provision to all staff 20% Allows the low paid to enjoy decent pension provision 17% Has merely added to the employer¬’s pension burden 15% Stakeholder workplace marketing gave a chance to promote other benefits 4% Do you feel that, generally, your staff understand their pension scheme? [sample: all respondents] Yes 52% No 36% Don¬’t know 10% Do you feel that, overall, your staff appreciate the cost and effort that goes into providing them with a pension scheme? [sample: all respondents] Yes 29% No 62% Don¬’t know 8% The respondents Our respondents are from 252 UK organisations. Just over a third (35%) of them have less than 100 pension scheme members; a further 28% have between 100 and 500 members; while 10% have between 501 and 1000 members. The remaining 25% have more than 1000 members. The research was carried out in February 2002. Number of employees in respondents organisations Less than 5 4% 5 ¬– 100 25% 101 ¬– 500 29% 501 ¬– 1,000 11% 1,001 ¬– 2,000 10% 2,001 ¬– 3,000 3% 3,001 ¬– 5,000 6% 5,001 ¬– 10,000 6% over 10,000 1% not stated 6%