Hymans Robertson, the UK’s leading independent pensions, benefits and risk consultancy, has signed a licensing agreement with Eckler Ltd., a Canadian based pension consultancy to provide Guided Outcomes (GO) to its DC clients.
The deal is the first international agreement signed by Hymans Robertson to allow the licensing of GO. Launched in 2013, GO tackles the view that DC schemes cannot provide adequate incomes in retirement and represent poor value for investment for employers. By simply setting a target income requirement for an employee, GO helps to actively supporting them stay on-track to achieve that target.
Since launching, companies whose employees hold over £2 billion of DC pension savings have embedded GO into their schemes, covering over 300,000 members.
Like the UK, Canada faces many of the same challenges in the pension sector, with an increasing number of DB pension schemes closing to new members, resulting in an increase in the number of DC pension scheme members. According to Statistics Canada, between 1991 and 2006, the number of members covered by employer sponsored DB plans shrunk by 4%, while DC membership grew by 93%.
Commenting on the deal, Rob Harper, Partner at Hymans Robertson said:
“Since its launch, we have seen a high level of interest from employers looking to apply Guided Outcomes to their DC schemes. This deal recognises the international potential of GO, with the Canadian market facing many of the same DC challenges we see here in the UK.
“The perception continues that DC schemes provide inadequate incomes in retirement and represent poor value for money. That is false – it is more a case that DC schemes have largely been wielded as a blunt tool to date. GO allows an employee to set a target income requirement and then actively supports them along the flight path in accumulating their pension pot.”
Commenting on the deal, Jill Wagman, Managing Principal at Eckler Ltd. said:
“GO has a proven track record with plan sponsors in the UK market, and we’re excited to be able to bring it to Canada. We have every confidence that GO is going to be a game-changer for Canadian DC plans.”
|
