Almost half (43%) of UK employees consider their occupational pension fund to be safe, according to research published by JLT Benefit Solutions (JLT).
The research, however, also showed that 25% of employees are not able to accurately assess the financial security of their pension, which implies they do not sufficiently understand the status of their pension savings. In addition, the research highlighted that there is a disconnection between employers and staff with regards to pensions.
Duncan Howorth, chief executive officer at JLT UK Employee Benefits Group, said: “While just 43% of UK employees feel their occupational fund is safe, a further 25% of individuals feel unable to accurately assess the financial security of their scheme – figures that suggest employers are still not helping employees to understand the position of their pension savings”.
However, it was those individuals that were part of a final salary scheme that demonstrated the highest levels of confidence, with 51% of employees admitting they feel safe. This is compared to just 32% of employees in stakeholder pensions, 39% in a defined contribution (DC) plan and 27% in a group pension plan (GPP).
“In the current climate it is surprising that final salary members have expressed such high levels of confidence in their funds.”
“Since we are seeing a significant proportion of these schemes being wound up by many UK businesses, I would have expected confidence to be lower and for employees who are members of defined contribution schemes we would expect more confidence in their pension fund,” said Howorth.