'Overworked and under-rated' Pensions Managers need support
Friday, November 11, 2011
Pension Managers in the UK feel they are 'under-rated' and need further support from their employers as they face an increased workload in the run up to auto-enrolment
The comments, made by Clifford Sims, from legal advisers Squire Sanders Hammonds, were backed by Geoff McKenzie, head of global pensions and risk benefits at Vodafone. Both were speaking at the NAPF annual conference in Manchester on 20 October.
"The job spec for pension managers has changed a lot in the last 10 years, and is likely to change even further," Sims told an audience at the conference. He said that if most pension managers were shown their original job specification then it would unrecognisable, compared to the duties they now had.
McKenzie claimed that his job could probably be covered by a "million bullet points" and that auto-enrolment would present a significant challenge to his company. That is despite the fact that Vodafone's contribution rates match the minimum requirements of the pension reforms and that the company already auto-enrols new staff after three months of employment.
Vodafone, which closed its defined benefit scheme in March last year, has some £140m assets under management in its defined contribution scheme and is due to officially begin its participation in auto-enrolment from 1st April 2013. McKenzie says that the firm has about 900 UK employees (10% of its workforce) who have opted out of its current scheme.
Sims, whose firm advises NEST, the UK's new national pensions savings vehicle, said that auto-enrolment was going to feel like a "big bang" for employers, HR departments and pension managers.
"There is still a lot of detail that needs to come out and pension managers must ensure that they have the authority to have high level conversations with their Finance Directors and boards over the effects of auto-enrolment," he said.
He cited an estimate that measures the cost of auto-enrolment for a company with an average of 7,500 employees as being an extra £3m every year on payroll.
20.10.2011
mhandzel@wilmington.co.uk
