Good practice in the provision of pre-retirement literature in DC trust-based schemes is the focus of a report published today by the Pensions Regulator.
Material from 97 trust-based DC schemes was assessed on adherence with legislative requirements, good practice in areas such as the description and prominence of the open market option, and the use of clear, plain English.
The review has provided valuable insight into current practice in this area and has highlighted that levels of compliance and good practice vary widely across the DC market.
Of 97 schemes who submitted literature:
* 98% offered the open market option (OMO), although take up of the OMO was viewed as remaining low, at 23% of DC members retiring* 57% of schemes had some scope for improvement in the standards of the retirement information sent to members* 30% had alleged legislative breaches of retirement disclosure regulations* 6% were referred to regulator casework teams to follow up the substantial changes required to their retirement literature or processes
Following the publication of the report, a letter will be sent to 4,500 schemes, highlighting the findings of our investigation and encouraging trustees to review the pre-retirement literature sent out to their members.
D.C.