B&CE, a provider of stakeholder pensions, has chosen Aqera’s iPensions software for its annual pension statements. The statements, known as Statutory Money Purchase Illustrations (SMPI), are required of all pensions providers from April 2003 by the Department for Work and Pensions. Aqera says this purchase will give B&CE’s 185,000 policyholders online access to comprehensive information about their retirement provision.
B&CE will implement Aqera’s Interactive Pensions software to provide not only the new illustrations before the April deadline but also additional services to its members, such as quotations meeting the FSA’s new PS134 standard, and online ‘what if’ modeling tools. Interactive Pensions also puts the DWP State Pension Forecast online and represents a significant step towards the Government’s proposed Composite Pension Forecast.
The new regulations affect all DC pensions – still known in the UK as money purchase schemes – and B&CE will address its total book of almost 250,000 policies covering Stakeholder Pensions, Personal Pensions and AVCs.
Aqera says its Interactive Pensions (iPensions) is the first system to enable pensions providers to supply customers with online, interactive illustrations of their personal and state pension data. Its calculations engine, also developed by Aqera, means users can enter a variety of ‘what if’ data to budget contributions and plan their retirement provision.
“This software means that EasyBuild customers will have access to a system that gives them the tools they need to plan for retirement, so they can scenario plan to reach a variety of financial targets,” says Brian Griffiths, chief executive of B&CE. “Aqera iPensions and its underlying Calculations Engine not only meets the SMPI and FSA regulations quickly and effectively, but also offers a wide range of other online services. The software was straightforward to configure and will enable us to launch our service well in advance of the deadline.”
Ed Holt, managing director of Aqera, adds: “With so many policyholders, B&CE is the ideal first customer for iPensions. Our development team has built something that we were told could not be done: a configurable online pensions calculator covering all the legacy DC products for the last 20 years. It doesn’t just comply with the new statements and FSA compliant forecasts, it means that B&CE’s members will benefit from a system that gives them all the information and tools to plan for their retirement, including online ‘what if’ modeling and targeting. We look forward to presenting the B&CE solution to the rest of the Industry and to the Government as a basis for the Composite Pension Forecast”.