Employers are delaying improvements to their own pension schemes due to
uncertainty about Government plans for stakeholder pensions. Companies want
more details on how staff membership affects existing arrangements.
A stakeholder pension is a low-premium product being planned for people in
the £9,000 to £18,000 salary range who do not have a company or private
pension.
A survey by the National Association of Pension Funds shows under three per
cent of occupational pension schemes were improved in 1999. This compares with
between seven and ten per cent in each of the past five years.
Some 700 schemes run by 527 organisations were surveyed.
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"Many employers just do not know how stakeholder pensions are going to
fit in with current arrangements," the report said.
Mark Childs, reward management vice-president at Seagram, said:
"Employers’ greatest concern is uncertainty about whether employees will
be able to continue in a traditional final salary pension scheme and
participate in stakeholder as well."
