Capita Hartshead has completed the wind up of the EMAP Flexiplan, a DC scheme with nearly 6,000 members. Despite a number of complexities, the whole process was finalised within just 18 months.
Gary Graham, Pensions Operations Director at Capita Hartshead said: “People might expect DC scheme wind ups to be straightforward but there were a lot of different elements in this case. For example, policies to secure members’ retirement annuities had been bought in the trustees’ name. As a result, we had to trace more than 300 pensioners in order to assign the policies to them. The fact that there were 20 different providers with varying assignment processes added a further layer of complexity.”
Rosemary Kennell, Chair of Trustees added: “This is a good outcome for the members in particular, as wind ups can become very drawn out. We would not have made the swift progress we did without everyone – the company, Capita Hartshead who were both the administrators and wind up specialists, our investment advisers, the insurer, the legal team from Wragges and the trustees – pulling together.”
As the EMAP Flexiplan was contracted out of the State Second Pension, it was necessary to carry out a Protected Rights reconciliation before any benefits could be settled. This covered 2,929 members and was 99% complete within nine months.
Depending on their membership status and level of benefits, members had a number of different options. The 750 active members were transferred to the employer’s new group personal pension scheme; more than 1,400 members opted to take their benefits as a lump sum; some 400 took a transfer to a provider of their own choice and just under 3,500 had their benefits transferred to a trustee buy-out plan with Standard Life.
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