Topic: Business Announcement

Two appointments made to People’s Investments Limited Board

People’s Investments Limited Board1, the company that oversees the investments operation of B&CE2, the leading pensions provider, has made two new key appointments.

Mark Walker and Dawn Turner have been appointed to the five-person Board, which is responsible for independent oversight of around £18bn in investments for all entities within the B&CE Group, the provider of The People’s Pension.

Dawn is an independent advisor and non-e­­xecutive with expertise in responsible investment, sustainable finance and environmental, social and governance risks. Her other independent and advisory roles include renewable energy, social housing, pension investments as well as being the independent Chair of the Gwent Police Joint Audit Committee.

She was the former Chief Executive of the £30 billion investment management company, Brunel Pension Partnership Ltd, and was previously the Chief Pensions Officer for the Environment Agency Pension Fund. That represented the culmination of a 40-year executive career in the financial services and investment industry spanning across utilities, fashion, retail, manufacturing, leisure and environment sectors.

Mark is Chief Investment Officer of Coal Pension Trustees Services (CPT), the in-house executive responsible for the £22bn of investments of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme and the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme.

Mark was previously Managing Director and Global Chief Investment Officer of the Univest Company, Unilever’s internal investment group. He has also been a partner at Mercer and was head of the London Investment Consulting Unit.

Dawn said: “As an advocate of better futures for everybody, I’m looking forward to the challenges ahead and ensuring that B&CE’s millions of members continue to receive an exemplary service.”

Mark said: “I am delighted to be joining the People’s Investments Limited Board, which plays a vital role in the ongoing success of B&CE and its flagship product, The People’s Pension.”

Jon Cunliffe, Managing Director, Investments of B&CE, said: “Millions of people have put trust in B&CE to invest their savings through our range of products, which means it’s essential that they know their money is well looked after. The appointment of Dawn and Mark, who have so much knowledge and experience between them, is tremendous news for both People’s Investments Limited and our members.”

Ciarán Barr, Chair of People’s Investments Limited, said: “We are very pleased to welcome Dawn and Mark to the Board. Their extensive experience of investment and pensions, along with that of the existing Board members, will be invaluable in supporting our members now and into the future.”

Dawn and Mark will join the existing board of Ciarán Barr, Chair, and other independent non-executive Board members Jez Bezant and Chris Cheetham.

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Notes to editors

  1. The primary functions of the People’s Investments Limited Board are to oversee B&CE’s Investment activities on behalf of the group and its Trustee boards.
  2. B&CE is a not-for-profit organisation, which provides The People’s Pension, a leading workplace pension scheme, serving nearly six million pension savers across the UK. With no shareholders, it uses its profits to help people build financial foundations for life.

Celebrating 10 years of The People’s Pension

I can clearly remember the day The People’s Pension went live to our members – it was also the day that I started in my role as Chief Executive.

Since that nail-biting experience 10 years ago, we’ve been on an incredible journey which has seen us become one of the biggest workplace pension providers in the UK, helping nearly 6 million members to save almost £18 billion for their futures.

In an organisation like ours, we’re focused on looking forward, but sometimes it’s good to look back. This anniversary has given me time to reflect on what we’ve achieved and there is plenty for us to be proud of.

I had the opportunity to talk to Jonathon Stapleton, Editor of Professional Pensions about this – you can watch a clip below where he asked me about The People’s Pension’s auto-enrolment journey over the past decade…

Extraordinary growth from a compelling proposition

I’m not sure I ever thought that the auto-enrolment policy or The People’s Pension would be as successful as they have proven to be. But it was clear early on that that our experience, value driven proposition and quality of service, together with our not-for-profit status enabled us to deliver a compelling proposition to market, to address the challenge of auto-enrolment.

The growth we experienced in the early days was extraordinary – I remember one day when we took on over 1,000 employer customers – and since then, we’ve continued to grow at a consistent rate.

A decade of success

This success has largely been down to our unflinching focus on what is right for the members and putting people above profit; a fact demonstrated by the closure of our B&CE legacy schemes. Moving those pension savers into The People’s Pension, represented better value because the cost of the older scheme’s charges were higher, and the returns are potentially greater for members of the bigger scheme.

The success that we continue to enjoy is also down to the hard work of colleagues past and present. I’m incredibly proud and grateful to them, for everything we’ve achieved together over the past decade.

Continuing to learn and grow

Of course, there have been many challenges along the way, primarily around onboarding so many members and employers, but it has also been tremendously rewarding, especially when we know there is so much more to come. Although 10 years is a significant landmark, it’s only the beginning of our journey to ensure that our millions of members have the means to fund the retirement they deserve.

We’re aware that there’s so much more we can do to support that journey and help our members – now 1 in 5 workers in the UK – to build those financial foundations for life. We’re still at the starting line and are committed to delivering a pension proposition which will continue to evolve and develop with the needs of our membership.

And we continue to grow as an organisation. Our ambitious recruitment plan has seen us add valuable experience to improve the outcomes for our membership. We’re also investing in technology which will meet consumer demands for easily accessible digital products. And we’re getting ready for pensions dashboards, which will really change the pension landscape for the nation’s retirement savers.

Helping members to make the right decision

As we mature, so does our customer base – it won’t be long before an increasing number start making firm plans for life after work. This is a key area of our development and one where there’s an increasing need to provide guidance and support to enable members to make the right decision for them.

Of course, our success so far has been achieved in sync with that of auto-enrolment, which is a shining example of what a successful government policy looks like. We will continue to work closely with policy makers and industry partners to ensure we build on its success and enable even more workers to save for their retirement.

57% of people aren’t saving enough

Our recent research, conducted with the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI), shows that 54% of households and 57% of individuals have not saved enough and are not saving enough. When economic circumstances allow, the government should commit to a plan to implement the Automatic enrolment review: 2017, reviewing auto-enrolment contribution rates over the longer term. Because the consensus is that 8% of banded earnings isn’t enough for people to achieve the retirement income they need.

A fair pension for everyone

One thing our members can be sure of is that we’ll continue to push for more fairness within pensions, because we believe that every worker should have access to a good quality pension, when they want one.

Nobody can predict the future, but I expect the next 10 years with developing pension policy and embedding saving through auto-enrolment will continue to throw up a challenge or two, but one that we at The People’s Pension are fully up for taking on.

information

This article was written when we were B&CE, before we changed our name to People’s Partnership in November 2022.

B&CE, provider of The People’s Pension, appoints new Chief Information Officer

B&CE1, the provider of The People’s Pension, has further bolstered its executive committee with the appointment of a new Chief Information Officer.

Nigel Rodgers has joined the organisation from Curtis Banks, where he was Group Chief Information Officer and led the successful acquisition of Dunstan Thomas (FinTech) in 2020.

During a two-decade career in financial services, he’s also held senior roles at Legal & General, Cofunds and Suffolk Life and is an expert in Change, IT and Strategy.

His responsibilities at B&CE, which, through The People’s Pension, provides a pension to 1 in 5 UK workers, include leading the IT function and driving the digital agenda as the organisation looks for new ways to enhance the customer experience through digitisation.

Nigel Rodgers said:

“I am thrilled to be joining B&CE during this period of organisational transformation as it embraces the digitisation of customer journeys to further enhance the customer value proposition, while continuing to provide excellent value products to millions of UK workers.”

Patrick Heath-Lay, chief executive of B&CE said:

“With the impending introduction of pensions dashboards, Nigel and his team will be pivotal to B&CE’s journey towards offering our 5.8 million members an improved digital experience and I am delighted that he will be joining us.”

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The People’s Pension Trustee Board appoints new Trustee

The People’s Pension, one of the UK’s largest workplace pension schemes, has today announced the appointment of pensions and investment specialist, David Butcher, to its Trustee.

David joins six existing trustees who oversee the running of the scheme, which holds almost £18bn assets under management and serves 1 in 5 of the UK workforce.

David has more than 40 years’ experience in the pensions and investment industry. A CEO three times, David also brings substantial governance experience having served on 16 boards including as a non-executive director of BlackRock Pensions, a Trustee of the Legal & General Master Trust, and both a Trustee of the Master Trust and Member of the Independent Governance Committee at Scottish Widows. He is also a Member of the Advisory Board of the Fund Boards Council.

He has also been Chair of The Optimum Health Clinic Foundation, a registered charity in the health sector for seven years and Chair of a start-up in the wellbeing and mindfulness space.

Commenting on his appointment, David said:

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to join the Trustee Board of one of the biggest master trusts in the UK. Nowhere else in the pensions market is the alignment between brand values and purpose better exemplified than at The People’s Pension where people and outcomes come before profit.”

Chris Fagan has also been appointed for a second term on the Trustee Board.

Chair of the Trustee Board, Steve Delo, who hands over the reins to fellow Trustee Mark Condron later this year, said:

“David’s appointment is great news for the 5.8 million members of The People’s Pension. He has vast DC experience and considerable trusteeship skills that will add further power to the long-term governance of the Scheme.”

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B&CE bolsters strategic board with new hire

B&CE1, which provides The People’s Pension to one in five UK workers, has bolstered its strategic board with the appointment of Veronica Oak, who has spent her career in financial services.

Over the past decade, B&CE has grown from providing financial products to construction workers, to becoming one of the UK’s leading workplace pension companies, providing The People’s Pension to almost 6 million people across all sectors. This appointment is part of a move to broaden the expertise of B&CE’s strategic board in line with the company’s growth and direction.  

Before joining B&CE, Veronica has served as a Marketing Director and spent more than 20 years as an independent marketing and business development consultant, working primarily on strategic and product development assignments. She has held non-executive director posts with a variety of organisations in the private sector as well as trade associations and a wealth management company.

Commenting on the appointment, Veronica said:

“When you look at B&CE you can’t fail to be amazed by its progress and growth since the introduction of auto-enrolment. The number of people looking to us to provide them a pension, and help them save towards their future, is phenomenal. B&CE has created a great base to build upon and I’m excited to play my part in helping its members build financial foundations for life.”

Patrick Heath-Lay, CEO of B&CE, said:

“Over the past ten years, B&CE has been on a fantastic journey, growing from a small financial services company serving the construction industry, to becoming one of the largest master trusts in the UK. As we continue to build on our success, we’re broadening the expertise of our board to ensure it meets the needs of our members and our plans for the future. It’s fantastic to have Veronica on board, as she brings invaluable expertise and experience to the organisation.”

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New Head of Risk and Performance appointed

B&CE, provider of The People’s Pension, has strengthened its investments expertise with the appointment of a new Head of Risk and Performance.

Shakeel Ahmad joins the UK’s largest independent master trust from F&C/BMO Global Asset Management, where he was Head of Investment Risk. He has previously held the same position at JP Morgan and spent four years at ABN Amro Asset Management as Head of Risk Management for fixed income and FX. He has also previously held risk and performance-related roles across multiple asset classes at various investment houses.

At B&CE, which provides The People’s Pension to one in five workers, almost 6 million people, across the UK, Shakeel joins a growing investments team which oversees assets under management of more than £17 billion, alongside asset manager State Street Global Advisors.

Commenting on his appointment, he said:

“I’m delighted to have joined B&CE at such an exciting time in its history. I’m looking forward to working with a hugely talented investment team, which has the shared aim of making the right choices for the millions of members of The People’s Pension.”

Jon Cunliffe, managing director, investments at B&CE, said:

“We’re delighted that Shakeel has brought his wealth of knowledge and experience to B&CE. He shares B&CE’s values and is committed to putting the member at the heart of every decision made and helping them to build financial foundations for life.”

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The People’s Pension appoints new Trustee Chair

The People’s Pension1 has appointed professional trustee and actuary, Mark Condron, as its new Chair of the Trustee.

Having already served for two years on the Trustee Board, Mark will step into his new role in September this year, replacing Steve Delo who has come to the end of his term. Steve will remain on the Board until March 2023. 

With more than 30 years’ experience in the pensions industry, Mark has already brought a wealth of expertise to The People’s Pension, as it has grown to become the largest independent master trust in the UK, providing a workplace pension to 1 in 5 workers across the country.

During his career he has held a wide range of senior positions with responsibility for pensions advisory and administration businesses. In his advisory work he has helped many large UK pension funds and companies on all aspects of pension provision and is a member of a number of trustee boards and pension scheme governance committees. He is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and an Accredited Professional Trustee.

Commenting on his appointment, Mark said:

“I’m absolutely delighted to be appointed as Chair. The People’s Pension is a huge success story, having helped almost 6 million people across the UK save more than £17bn in pension savings. It has an incredibly important role to play in the auto-enrolment market, helping to bring pension provisions to those who may not otherwise have access to retirement saving tools. The People’s Pension has an exciting future and it’s fantastic to be a part of that.”

Commenting on the appointment and his time as Chair, Steve Delo said:

“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Mark for the last two years and know he will be a fantastic Trustee Chair for the next stage of The People’s Pension journey. With his brilliant mix of leadership skills, pragmatism, technical knowledge, business acumen and compassion for members, he will ensure high standards of governance. I have enjoyed every minute of my 10 years as the scheme’s Chair, and I am delighted to now be passing the baton to Mark for what will, I am sure, be a long and successful tenure.”

Patrick Heath-Lay, chief executive of B&CE, provider of The People’s Pension, said: “Mark’s appointment as Chair of Trustees is fantastic news as, like Steve, he is fully focused on ensuring that the members of The People’s Pension are at the heart of every decision the Trustee makes. I very much look forward to working with him on continuing to grow and develop the scheme for the benefit of our membership.

“I would also like to thank Steve for his magnificent service as Chair of Trustees during the incredible first decade of The People’s Pension – his wisdom and drive have played a significant role in its success.”

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Charge rebate now £1 million a month

The People’s Pension gives back more than £1 million a month to members

The People’s Pension1 has today (October 4th) revealed that it now gives back more than £1 million a month to its members in the form of rebates on its annual management charge (AMC).

Its charging structure consists of three components:

  • an annual charge of £2.50 – equivalent to 21p a month
  • a management charge of 0.5% of the value of a member’s pension pot each year
  • a rebate on the management charge (between 0.1% on savings over £3,000 and 0.3% on savings over £50,000)2

This charging structure was introduced to reward its members for saving more and to reduce the cross subsidy by active members to millions of small, inactive pots which are increasingly created by auto-enrolment.

Since the rebate was introduced last year, The People’s Pension, provided by not-for-profit organisation B&CE2, has, given back more than £12.5 million to its members who have pots above the required threshold.  This figure is only set to increase as individual pots grow, with members on the current structure projected to receive a total rebate of £34.5 million a year in five years’ time.

This comes as the Government is running a consultation on the proposed introduction of a universal charging structure, which could see combination and graduated charging structures, such as the rebate given by The People’s Pension, no longer permitted.

Patrick Heath-Lay, CEO of B&CE, provider of The People’s Pension, said:

“As the UK’s largest independent master trust, we have a responsibility to do what’s best for our 5 million members. This charging structure rewards our members for saving more by using our profits to directly benefit them and improve their chance of a better retirement.

“As automatic enrolment matures, the number of people benefiting from this as well as the total size of the rebate we pay out will grow considerably and could help members to save thousands more towards their futures3.”

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The People’s Pension bolsters Trustees with appointments

The People’s Pension bolsters Trustee Board with two new appointments

Baroness Jeannie Drake CBE and consulting actuary Mark Condron have been appointed to The People’s Pension Board of Trustees.

Both joined the Trustee this month, bringing a wealth of expertise and experience to the leading master trust which provides auto-enrolment pensions to one in six workers across the UK.

Baroness Drake is a former member of the Turner Pension Commission which recommended the introduction of auto-enrolment. She was also on the Board of the Pension Protection Fund, the Board of The Pensions Advisory Service, and was Acting Chair of PADA, the forerunner of NEST.

She has more than 30 years’ experience in the trade union movement, including as President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and was a member of the Equal Opportunities Commission.

Mark Condron joins the Trustee after 30 years’ experience at Mercer, where he was  a scheme actuary, senior partner, and non-executive member of the company’s audit committee. He is also an independent trustee on the Scottish & Newcastle Pension Plan, part of Heineken.

Steve Delo has been re-appointed as Chair of Trustee for a further three years, while Sue Lewis has stepped down after coming to the end of her tenure.

Commenting on the appointments, Trustee Chair, Steve Delo, said:

“I’m delighted to welcome both Baroness Drake and Mark Condron to the Board. They each have top class reputations and will reinforce our high governance standards.

“The Scheme has gone from strength to strength and recruiting quality Trustee Directors with complementary skills is an essential part of managing that growth.

“I’d also like to thank Sue Lewis, who has completed her term having been a tenacious, highly member focused Board member.”

Responding to the announcement, Baroness Drake said:

“Auto-enrolment has been a success in delivering for the public good by getting millions of workers to start saving or saving more. A requirement of continuing success is that pension funds deliver good quality provision to low and middle earners.

“The People’s Pension has grown rapidly in the last few years and I am privileged to join the Trustee board and to contribute to protecting the interests of its nearly 5 million members.”

Commenting on his appointment, Mark Condron said:

“I’m delighted to be appointed as a Trustee of The People’s Pension at this important time. I am joining a great team, completely committed to helping members build better outcomes in retirement.”

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The People’s Pension moves to combination charge

The People’s Pension moves to a combination charge structure

One of the UK’s largest auto-enrolment pension providers has modified its charging structure, to make it fairer and futureproof against the ongoing impact of COVID-19.

A new annual charge of £2.50 – equivalent to just 21 pence a month – has been added to the charging structure for all members of The People’s Pension. Given the current volatile financial climate, this annual charge will be deducted from member’s pension pots later in the scheme year.

The new combination charge structure reduces the cross subsidy by active members of millions of small, inactive pots which are increasingly created by auto-enrolment.

It also cushions the effect on scheme revenues of the extreme market volatility sparked by the COVID-19 global pandemic crisis.

The new combined Annual Management Charge will consist of 3 components:

  • annual charge (£2.50 deducted during each scheme year)
  • management charge (0.5%)
  • rebate on the management charge (between 0.1% on savings over £6,000 and 0.3% on savings over £50,000)

To further encourage active savers, The People’s Pension will halve the starting rate for a rebate on its management charge to £3,000 from £6,000, to encourage members to save more for their retirement and consolidate their pots. Nearly half a million of The People’s Pension members would benefit currently. This will be implemented later this year.

As an illustrative example of the new combined charge structure’s impact in encouraging long term saving: a member on an annual salary of £20,000 with an initial pension pot of just £3,000, if they save with The People’s Pension for twenty years, could be paying the equivalent of just 0.3% in total annual management charges.

Commenting, Patrick Heath-Lay, Chief Executive Officer for B&CE, said:

“As we evolve our charging approach to meet changing requirements, we think this approach combines fairness, incentives to save, and prudence. Our modified charging structure cuts fees as members save more, reduces the cross subsidy from actively saving members to inactive small pots, and futureproofs revenues against the unpredictable financial impact of COVID-19.

“These changes ensure we offer fantastic value for money to active savers of all types.”

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