Intelligent Environments Pension Scheme
This exclusive web-page has been set-up as an easy reference for the Intelligent Environments pension scheme with Aviva. At Patterson-Mills Financial Planning, we are here to help each Scheme Member with future pension scheme funding, a wide range of risk-assessed investment choices and also advise those of you who have funds with the existing Aegon pension scheme (or those with funds elsewhere) exactly what is best to do with your accrued funds within that Scheme and how the new scheme could be advantageous to you.
Your pension scheme transition will be made straight forward and easy to administer, using group presentations, online website reference pages and downloads, as well as important, confidential one-to-one meetings with each Member of Staff.
Please make sure to attend one of the group meetings (see below) and also your individual opportunity to discuss matters confidentially with our Principal Adviser, Edward Mills.
Meeting dates
6 Group Presentations are being held over 2 days on:
Monday 9th September
Tuesday 10th September
You will have received a Staff Announcement from Fiona Tee about the upcoming dates for next week and so you will be hearing from Jeanette Mills at Patterson-Mills Financial Planning to confirm which of the above presentations can fit with your diary.
What happens at the group meetings?
At these presentations, you will be provided with everything you need to know about the current Aegon scheme, the reasons for the decision to change to the new Aviva scheme, including all about the advantages of the new Aviva scheme, a summary of state pensions and the new Govt rules for Auto-enrolment and how they will affect you. You will also be provided with an opportunity to ask questions and be handed your introductory pack about the new Aviva scheme.
Individual Confidential Meetings:
These start on Wednesday 11th September and continue on various dates when our Principal Adviser, Edward Mills, will be visiting your Offices in Kingston for whole days between then up to 26th September.
Jeanette Mills will liaise with you to set a mutually convenient date and time for all Staff individually to meet with Edward over the above dates. If you download the poster at the bottom of this page, you will find Jeanette’s contact details and so, if you need to get in touch prior to hearing from her directly, don’t hesitate to send an email request through to Jeanette.
What happens at the 1-2-1 individual meetings?
You will be given the opportunity to discuss your own personal requirements. These meetings will be totally confidential, including discussion as to how best match your ideal investment asset allocation with your own objectives and ability to accept and take on any appropriate investment risk. These discussions will also include personalised illustrations of your own projected benefits for your current fund (for existing members) and for your ongoing contributions.
Why a new pension scheme?
The pension fund landscape is an ever-changing one and your Board has taken the opportunity to review whether the existing pension remains the best option for Intelligent Environments’ Staff. Having consulted a range of Adviser firms, your Board’s review has led to the decision that a new pension scheme now is most appropriate for all Staff. In consultation with the newly chosen Pension Advisers, Patterson-Mills Financial Planning, the new scheme has been designed to:
1) significantly lower the management charges on your funds, so increasing your ultimate pension
2) optimise investment performance with a wide investment choice and independently risk-rated portfolios, offered to you on a fully advised basis
3) ensure the new UK Govt Auto-enrolment rules for workplace pensions are fully met
The excellent news is that your new pension scheme, about to be established by Patterson-Mills Financial Planning, will offer significantly reduced overall costs to you in terms of management charges, both for Members today and even for those that leave in the future.
At Patterson-Mills Financial Planning, we are here to guide you through the whole transition process and make everything straight forward for you, as well as giving you a new on-going point of personal contact now and for the future. We very much look forward to meeting all Staff at Intelligent Environments in the coming weeks and to helping you in any way we can in establishing, advising and helping you meet your investment and retirement goals.
Group Personal Pension
When you retire, you can use the money you’ve invested in your pension to provide you with an income. And as far away as that might seem today, you really should start thinking about it now. The sooner you start investing, the more options and financial freedom you’re likely to have when you retire and in effect the earlier you can reduce or stop full time work.
The significant additional benefit that Intelligent Environments offer you is called Salary Exchange, also known as Salary Sacrifice. This allows you to:
– reduce your pay by the amount you choose to contribute to your pension scheme
– have the Company pay that amount directly to your pension scheme each month instead of via your pay
– have the Company also invest directly into your pension fund the saving made in Income Tax and National Insurance (including Employers’ National Insurance of 13.80%) from your mutually agreed salary reduction.
Using the salary sacrifice method above can seriously enhance your pension fund over the longer term. Those employees benefiting from such additional investment as that from Salary Exchange can expect to have a final pension pot of between 7% and 15% greater at current rates of taxation (subject to your own tax rate).
