Pension communications

Whether you have a defined benefit (DB) or defined contribution (DC) scheme, making your pension communications effective can be hard to achieve.

Good pension communications are vital for employees and scheme members to understand - and properly value - the pension benefits being provided to them.

One of the major communication challenges currently facing pension trustees and employers is the need to clearly explain the new pension flexibilities announced in the 2014. These represent major changes - and pension members need to understand the options available to them and the implications of choosing each option.

Auto-enrolment and automatic re-enrolment is an ongoing process that requires multiple communications to employees, many of which containing quite detailed and complicated information. Then there are the issues specific to each type of pension scheme:

• Defined benefit (DB) pension scheme members need to understand not only the pension benefit they can expect to receive at retirement, but also how secure their benefits are. Explaining actuarial valuations and scheme funding in a clear, straightforward way is not easy.
• Defined contribution pension scheme members need to understand the decisions they need to take around contribution levels and investment choices and how these could impact the benefit they eventually receive from the plan.

Getting pension communications right requires true expertise. Our team includes a communication specialist whose valuable expertise enables employers and pension trustees to enhance their communications to make them easier and more attractive to read (while still being factually correct), typically at a much lower cost than other third party consultants.

Example pension scheme newsletters

Our pension communication services include drafting and graphic design for a range of hard copy, soft copy and online communications, including:

• pension newsletters, announcements and updates for members
• pension scheme websites
• member-nominated trustee election communications
• pension scheme booklets & new joiner information
• pre retirement communications to help members understand options, plan for their retirement and recognise any risks they are taking
• auto-enrolment communications
• targeted campaigns - for example, to aid understanding of investment choices or encourage employees to review their pension and when to consider changing their pension contributions

To find out how we could help you improve your pension communications, please contact us.