Thursday, 27 September 2012 10:09
Concern grows over lack of auto-enrolment awareness
Hargreaves Lansdown is concerned that there is still a lack of awareness among the public about auto-enrolment, despite its implementation being days away.
It is concerned that without engagement and awareness from members, it would be unlikely they would contribute to a scheme appropriately.
Tom McPhail, head of pensions research, said: "This is an opportunity to finally get the public engaged in planning for their retirement.
"Good quality engagement is essential to ensure that they aren't lulled into believing that default contributions rates and investment strategies will deliver a generous retirement income."
Auto-enrolment will begin for the largest employers with over 120,000 staff on 1 October. February to May 2013 will see a further 6.5m people join the scheme. Research by Scottish Widows found just 16 per cent of these employees had been told about the changes by their employers.
Hargreaves Lansdown is also concerned that, despite the staggered staging dates, there will be unprecedented demand on payroll providers, HR departments and pensions providers.
Mr McPhail said: "The auto-enrolment programme has been designated to smooth the flow of activity however that's not going to help if employers and their pension providers aren't ready ahead of their staging dates."
It is concerned that without engagement and awareness from members, it would be unlikely they would contribute to a scheme appropriately.
Tom McPhail, head of pensions research, said: "This is an opportunity to finally get the public engaged in planning for their retirement.
"Good quality engagement is essential to ensure that they aren't lulled into believing that default contributions rates and investment strategies will deliver a generous retirement income."
Auto-enrolment will begin for the largest employers with over 120,000 staff on 1 October. February to May 2013 will see a further 6.5m people join the scheme. Research by Scottish Widows found just 16 per cent of these employees had been told about the changes by their employers.
Hargreaves Lansdown is also concerned that, despite the staggered staging dates, there will be unprecedented demand on payroll providers, HR departments and pensions providers.
Mr McPhail said: "The auto-enrolment programme has been designated to smooth the flow of activity however that's not going to help if employers and their pension providers aren't ready ahead of their staging dates."
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