Value for money

We recently reviewed the value for money that some of our older style Group Personal Pensions (GPP) and Group Stakeholder Pensions (GSHP) offer against industry standards. We looked at charges our customers pay on their pensions. This includes former members of these GPP and GSHP schemes.  

As a result of our findings, we’ve taken steps to improve the value for money these pensions provide by reducing the effect of charges. 

The charges on these pensions included an allowance for commission payments. We paid commission to financial advisers for advice and services they gave to the group pension scheme.  

However, as some advisers are no longer doing this, we stopped paying them commission after 30th June 2023. This means we can reduce charges by adding the cost of commission back into customers’ pension plans, if it affects them.  

If you or your employer aren’t contributing to your pension, it’s unlikely that changes like these will apply to your pension plan. If your pension is affected, we’ll add units to your pension, or you’ll see an increased allocation rate. 

To find out more about whether this change affects your pension, or if you have any questions about your Annual Benefit Statement, contact us. We’re open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Please have your plan details to hand. 

Units

Units

When you invest money into your pension, we use it to buy units in chosen funds. These units are a bit like shares in companies, and depending on the fund’s performance their value can change from day to day.

Allocation rates

Allocation rates

Allocation rates determine how much of each payment made is used to buy units. A greater allocation rate means that more units per payment are being bought. The more units held in a fund, the greater the value of the plan.