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Are you saving enough?
Find out how much your lifestyle could cost when you retire and how to work out if your savings are on track.
Try it nowA Covid-19 (coronavirus) update
We understand you may be worried about the Covid-19 outbreak and have provided information to help you understand how it may affect your pension from the Amey OS Pension Scheme.
Can the Scheme’s administrator, RPMI, continue to provide the services at this time?
Yes, administration continues to be business as usual and the Trustees are operating and closely monitoring investments.
Due to the Coronavirus situation, RPMI is prioritising urgent queries. Therefore, please be aware it may take longer than usual to respond to any queries that you send.
RPMI has very detailed plans in place to make sure it can continue to provide services as well as look after its people. It is following all advice from the Government as well as central authorities and has put its plans into action.
What actions has RPMI taken to address the current situation?
As well as closely monitoring and following Government and authority advice, RPMI is prioritising urgent queries and key processes as this time. This includes paying members’ monthly pensions, setting up new retirements, and settlement of death benefits. The majority of the administration team have been enabled to work from home, with a very small team being office based to deal with essential tasks that allow RPMI to continue to provide a reliable services for members.
How will Covid-19 affect my pension?
Everyone’s worried about Covid 19. As it’s affected stock markets, it is completely understandable that you should think about how it might affect your pension.
In the middle of March stock prices fell. By the end of April, prices had gone up again, but overall the average price of shares was lower than it was at the start of March. It’s normal for shares to go up and down in value, but these recent changes
were bigger than we’d have expected under normal circumstances.
So, what does this mean for your pension? Well, it depends on the type of pension you have, whether you’re already getting an income from it, and if not, how long it is until you plan to retire.
I am in a Defined Benefit (DB) Pension scheme (where the amount of pension I get is based on how much I earn and the number of years I’ve worked)
Whether you’re getting an income from this type of pension right now or will be in the future, the amount you get isn’t affected by stock markets and share prices.
I am in a Defined Benefit (DB) Pension scheme – but I also make Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs)
Whether you’re already getting an income from your DB pension, or will be in the future, the amount you get isn’t affected by stock markets and share prices.
It’s unlikely that all your AVCs are invested in stocks and shares.
If you’re building up a pot of money alongside your pension by making AVCs, the value of this pot might be affected by changes in the stock market. However, most AVC pots are invested in a range of different types of investment. So, while you might be investing in stocks and shares, you might also be investing in government bonds and property. If this is the case, it will have reduced the effect that changes in the stock market have on the value of your pot. This spreading of investments is often done automatically when you set up AVCs.
If you’re close to retiring, the effect of stock market changes on your AVC pot may have been reduced
Lots of AVCs also use something called lifestyling. Lifestyling changes the way your AVC pot is invested as you get closer to retiring – instead of the emphasis being on making your pot grow, the emphasis becomes protecting growth you’ve already had. To achieve this, about 5 to 10 years before the date you’re expected to retire, it starts moving your investments out of stocks and shares and into cash and bonds. If your AVC pot is invested with lifestyling and you are close to retiring, changes in the stock market will have had less effect on the value of your pot.
If you’re at least 5 years from retiring, there could be time for the value of your AVC pot to recover in value
In the past, sudden falls in stock markets, like those we’ve seen recently, have been followed by periods of growth, when markets recover. So, there’s a good chance that its value will increase before you need it. If you have 5 years, there’s a very good chance that your pot will recover and even grow to more than you had before. If you’re more than 5 years away from retiring, those chances get even better.
There’s a risk referring to ‘now’ as you don’t know when members will be looking at the website and what could have happened to share prices at that point in time so I’ve reworded slightly.
Matt Riley
Manager
Matt joined Zedra Governance Limited (formerly PTL) in January 2008 having previously worked for Mercer Limited, Hazell Carr and Prudential.
As a Manager for the company's Birmingham Office, Matt’s responsibilities include working closely with Client Directors and individually liaising with Employers, Trustees and Members to ensure the smooth running of their pension schemes. Matt’s current portfolio of clients covers ongoing, paid-up and winding-up schemes. In addition, Matt has experience of schemes that have transferred or are in the process of transferring to the Pension Protection Fund and Financial Assistance Scheme. Matt also works closely with clients in relation to risk registers and internal controls.
Matt particularly enjoys resolving issues in a fair and pragmatic way ensuring that the right result is reached for the member or employer.
Sam Burden
Client Director
Sam Burden joined Zedra Governance (formerly PTL) in 2022. He is an Accredited Professional Pension Trustee (AMAPPT) and an Associate of the Pensions Management Institute (APMI)
Sam has more than 25 years’ experience in the pensions industry gained with WTW, KPMG, and Standard Life working with a wide range of pension schemes and sponsoring employers. His trustee appointments include DB, DC and hybrid pension schemes and he has experience of handling a broad range of projects relating to the management of pension schemes.
Beyond his pensions experience Sam is a former Birmingham City Councillor where he chaired the audit committee and a current charity trustee.
Payam Kazemian
Client Director
Payam Kazemian joined Zedra Governance Limited (formerly PTL Governance Limited) in 2021. He is an Accredited Professional Pension Trustee (AMAPPT) and an Associate of the Pensions Management Institute (APMI).
Payam has more than 17 years of experience in the pensions industry. Through his current role as a professional trustee, as well as previously as a pension’s de-risking and investment structuring expert at financial institutions including Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, he has had overall responsibility for creating investment, de-risking, journey planning, and governance solutions for a wide range of UK DB pension schemes. He currently holds a number of board positions (as Chair of Trustees) and sole trustee in his professional trustee capacity. Payam has been involved with a number of pensions projects including pensions buy-in, pensions buy-out, GMP equalisation, investment strategy reviews, and dialogue with the pensions regulator. Payam looks to create and believes in a collaborative relationship between the sponsor, the trustee, and all other parties involved as this results in best member outcomes and helps deliver pragmatic solutions for scheme. Aside from his pensions experience, Payam holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science from the University of Cambridge.
