Introducing a new option and IFA support for members

The background

We undertook a sponsor-led review of the options and support available to members which led to the understanding that:

• members typically retired at normal retirement age, with few retiring early – often due to a lack of understanding of the early retirement option
• many members were not aware of the option to take a transfer value at retirement
• communications could be improved to increase member engagement prior to the point of retirement.

Our approach

With LCP’s help, a Sponsor and Trustee Joint Working Group was established to:

• appoint an IFA to support members with their decisions at retirement
• design and implement a new BPO, enabling more members to retire earlier than their normal retirement age
• put in place more proactive communications from age 55, including early retirement quotations with the new BPO as well as transfer values
• update the communications issued to members six months from normal retirement age, to include the new BPO and a transfer value quotation.

The outcome

The proactive communications from age 55 were launched with a bulk write out to all members currently over age 55. This led to enhanced take-up of transfers and of the new bridging option which has accelerated the timescales to full buy-out – with our support, the Plan is now actively seeking full buy-in quotations, which is earlier than planned.