This document provides advice to employers on reviewing the services provided by their pension advisers. It recommends employers evaluate their pension scheme goals, resources, support needs, current services, and value for money. Key areas to assess include whether the scheme aligns with business objectives, the time and expertise required to run it internally, support for employees, clarity on included services, and measurements of engagement and cost effectiveness. The review is important given recent regulatory changes requiring advisers to charge fees instead of commissions to avoid conflicts of interest.

1. Review
your
service
Receive the best from your adviser

2. 2 Review your service: receive the best from your adviser
Introduction
In recent years we have seen a number of
changes in the regulatory environment of UK
workplace pensions. The changes are aimed
at improving professional standards, moving to
adviser charging, and introducing new measures
for independent advice.
Since January 2013 all advisers have had to
charge clients for their services, because they
are banned from taking commissions that could
influence their recommendations. A deadline
for member-borne fund commission for existing
schemes was imposed for April 2016.
Iain Chadwick
Consultancy Director

3. 3Review your service: receive the best from your adviser
What
next?
Employers who have been running pension
schemes for their employees since 2012 or
earlier have, in many cases, been paying for
these services through commission paid from the
product provider to their adviser.
This now presents you with the perfect opportunity
to learn more about the services you receive and
how to achieve the best possible services going
forward. However, it could demonstrate that you
may need to consider changing your adviser.
The following whitepaper details some of the
main areas you should be considering in making
your decision; all are focused on time, risk and
resource.

4. 4 Review your service: receive the best from your adviser
What are your
aims from pension
and benefits?
Was your scheme introduced to achieve specific
goals or business objectives? Are your benefits
aligned to your current business objectives?
It may be that you introduced your benefits
programme to attract greater talent and build
your brand, or you may have selected your
scheme to remain competitive.
Determine what you want to achieve. Is your
programme delivering this? It is worth considering
bringing in external consultants as they can provide
broader market knowledge and technical expertise
to help you in better meeting your goals.

5. 5Review your service: receive the best from your adviser
Do you have
the resource?
Have you considered the risks of running your
scheme in-house? The time implications are often
significantly underestimated and could be costly
for your organisation.
Additionally, do you or another party, such as the
pension provider, have the right expertise?
Ultimately, you need to ensure that you are
meeting your employer obligations.

6. 6 Review your service: receive the best from your adviser
Is the support
still right?
With so much changing for employers and
individuals - changes to auto-enrolment, retirement
freedoms and now the tapered annual allowance
- it may mean that you and your employees
need different levels of support which is better
tailored to your business and individual members’
circumstances.
But what alternatives are there? In many examples
we see most service has focused on the individual
members, but is this still suitable when the cost
is being paid by the business? Members need
greater support to ensure they achieve good
outcomes, but can this be delivered in a more
efficient and focused way?
Your scheme needs to be relevant, supporting
your employees through their work life journey. Do
you know what your employees think about your
current offering?
By reviewing the level of service you receive you
may free-up budget to improve the way your
business is provided with the support it needs,
whether that is in governance, consultancy or
administration.

7. 7Review your service: receive the best from your adviser
What services do
you receive?
Many commission based engagements have had
no formal contracts or service level agreements
so it may be unclear what exactly has been
delivered. Have you measured the use and value
of services you receive in any way?
• How many employees open and interact with
your communications?
• What percentage of your employees attend
on-site support sessions?
• Is employee feedback obtained?
You should be able to identify which services you
currently receive, and whether you are able to pick
and choose these services or are offered them in
the form of a packaged solution.
Typical services should include:
• Consultancy
• Governance
• Legislative and best practice advice
• Benefits benchmarking
• Transition management
• Administration support – auto-enrolment,
member communications, payroll and
contribution reports, reconciliation etc.
• Communications – targeted communication
strategies based on demographics and
member behaviour. Help on complex topics,
as well as on-site seminar sessions and one to
one meetings providing further support.
A robust communications strategy should
support any pension scheme; if your staff aren’t
aware of or don’t understand what is available to
them, naturally, engagement and value will be low.

8. 8 Review your service: receive the best from your adviser
How do you know
if you are getting
good value?
You need to ensure the service you are receiving
is tailored to your needs. A clear and transparent
outline of what you are paying for should be
provided, detailing all of the options available,
ensuring you get the right service at the
right price.
You should examine many areas within your
review:
• Have you seen a reduction in administration?
• Have you reduced your benefits spend?
• Has your annual premium reduced, remained
the same, or has it gone up?
• Have you surveyed your members to see what
they think?
• Are your members engaged?
• Have you measured your services and adviser
against your business objectives?
• Is there a process in place for benchmarking
the service you receive?
• Are your benefits still relevant?
By knowing what you have and what works,
you can ensure:
• Good levels of member engagement and
relevant outcomes
• Measurement against your original objectives
• You are meeting your legislative obligations.
Hopefully, by focusing on these considerations it
will make this easier to gauge. However, adviser
costs vary significantly depending on their
efficiency and the type of service they specialise
in. From a member viewpoint, is the removal
of commission, which often funded face-to-
face support for them, being reflected in lower
management fees?

9. 9Review your service: receive the best from your adviser
Improved
professional
standards
Some investments can be hard to understand.
To ensure you are fully informed, the minimum
professional standards of qualification that
financial advisers have to meet to ensure their
knowledge is up-to-date has been increased.
Our consultancy team has over 100 years’
financial sector experience. They work closely
with you to get an understanding of your
business and the challenges it faces, and use
this information to create and deliver sustainable
group pension and employee benefit solutions.
Once your scheme is established, we provide on-
going advice to help you achieve your business
goals and legislative obligations.

10. The content of this promotional material is provided for information purposes only and is based upon our experience and understanding of the
financial services market place at this time. The content should not be viewed as financial advice, but is intended to provide an overview of possible
considerations or options. A formal recommendation will be made in writing once the decision is taken to formally appoint Johnson Fleming as advisers.
The views or opinions expressed within this promotional material are based upon our experiences of the financial services market place at this time and
should not be viewed as financial advice. Johnson Fleming Group Limited is authorised as a Firm of Financial Advisers and our permitted business
activity is advising and arranging life insurance, pensions, investments and general insurance contracts. Registered Office: Johnson Fleming Group
Limited, Fleming House, Bromsgrove Enterprise Park, Bromsgrove, B60 3AL. Johnson Fleming Group Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial
Conduct Authority. Financial Services register number 599255 see www.fca.org.uk/register for details. Registered in England and Wales No 06272390.
Johnson Fleming Limited (FCA 215110), Johnson Fleming Administration Services Limited (FCA 480883) and Johnson Fleming Services Limited (FCA
606750) are Appointed Representatives of Johnson Fleming Group Limited. JF040116
For further information on what you need to do, contact our
Business Development team to discuss your options:
01527 571 223
online@johnsonfleming.com
www.johnsonfleming.com
@JohnsonFleming
Johnson Fleming Group Limited
Fleming House
Bromsgrove Enterprise Park
Bromsgrove
B60 3AL