Pensions Consultancy
- Description
- Tasks
- Skills
- Useful Knowledge
- Entry Qualifications
- Professional Qualifications
- Trends
- Resources
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Organisations of all shapes and sizes require specialist support when it comes to selecting occupational pension schemes for their employees. From an employer’s perspective, the more attractive their pension scheme, the more likely they are to attract and retain the best staff members. After salaries, pensions are usually regarded as the next most valuable benefit. That’s why it is so important that companies make the best choice with available resources. One that suits their employees’ needs, both now and in the future, providing staff with assurance that they are saving enough for their retirement. This is where pensions consultants step in. Consultants need to have an up-to-date knowledge of the financial services sector and an understanding of pensions legislation. You would be expected to review an organisation’s current provision for staff members. Your job could then involve making a recommendation and setting out options for the client to decide upon and implement or potentially to set up and run pensions and benefits schemes on behalf of companies. This is likely to involve conducting in-depth research within the financial market, to source suitable investment funds for each organisations’ occupational pension scheme. As an alternative job, you might work as a personal pensions adviser, independent financial adviser, selling pensions and savings plans to individual customers.
Salary
Trainee consultant role may begin in an administrative post could start at approximately £16,000 per annum. With the right experience, qualifications and skills you could progress to qualified consultant and management roles and earn in excess of £80,000 per annum. This does not include potential bonuses and additional benefits. Salaries will vary considerably based on location and employer.
- Designing pension and benefits packages to best meet the client company's needs, constantly reviewing the fund’s strategy, structure and performance
- Identifying and agreeing priorities and options for the client to enable informed pension choices
- Overseeing the overall administration of pension schemes
- Calculating the value and performance of funds, providing pension managers and Trustees with update reports for their communications
- Issuing or co-ordinating the issue of regular statements to scheme members
- Supporting organisations in developing communications to promote the benefits of their pension schemes
- Ensuring pension schemes are effective and meet agreed quality, performance and customer care standards
- Managing client relationships, or finding new business
- Attending meetings with fund managers, actuaries, trustees, accountants and Board members
- Ensuring compliance with current statutory regulations, keeping up to date with legislative changes
- Researching the financial markets for suitable investment funds
- Excellent people, interpersonal and listening skills to build client trust
- Analytical and research skills
- Confidence preparing and explaining numbers in a clear way to non-financially aware audiences
- Professional, ethical and discreet
- Good sales and customer service skills
- Strong negotiation and influencing skills
- Time management
- Socially articulate for networking and business development
- Strong numerical and IT skills
- Enjoy working with people in a team setting
A new entrant will not always be required to have this knowledge. Employers usually provide training to acquire skills for:
- An understanding of the different pension products and investment funds in the market place
- The regulatory and legislative environment governing pensions
- Acting ethically, impartially and always in the interests of clients, within the FSA’s Treating Customers Fairly framework
- Occupational scheme Trust rules and Trust Deeds
- Communications that must be shared between pension suppliers, advisers, regulators and Trustees
- How to review pension contracts and the renewal and re-negotiation processes
Entry requirements can and do vary widely. Many employers consider 'people skills' and a strong financial or sales background to be more important than formal entry qualifications. You could start as a pensions administrator and work your way up to a consultancy position. Having a pensions qualification from the Pensions Management Institute (PMI) or Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) could increase your progression opportunities. See the Pensions Administrator job profile for more information. Alternatively, some train first as financial advisers and planners, before specialising in pensions. See the Financial Advice and Planning job profile for more information.
Any job in pensions requires strong numerical confidence plus the ability to communicate clearly with clients verbally and in a written format. It is therefore useful to have school leaver qualifications, or equivalent, in English and maths.
Giving any form of personal pension advice is an FSA regulated function, and therefore specific professional qualifications are required. At trainee level, employers often provide internal training and support employees in gaining the minimum qualifications required to advise on pensions schemes.
If advising on occupational pension schemes:
- PMI Advanced Diploma in Retirement Provision
If you are advising primarily individual customers about retail pension products, you would usually take general financial advice qualifications:
- Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) Level 4 Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning
- Chartered Banker Institute Diploma in Investment Planning
- Institute of Financial Services Level 4 Diploma for Financial Advisers and Professional Certificate in Banking (including practice of financial advice module)
- Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) Level 4 Investment Advice Diploma (Private Client Route) and Masters in Wealth Management
- SQA Level 4 Diploma in Professional Financial Advice
- Fellow or Associate of the Faculty or Institute of Actuaries
- Manchester Metropolitan University BA (Hons) Financial Services, Planning and Management
- Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship in Providing Financial Advice, in England and Wales.
These qualifications meet the Financial Services Authority (FSA) full qualification requirements up to and after 1 January 2013. Please contact the FSA on 0845 606 9966.
In recent years the pension industry has undergone a major overhaul. This means there is now a greater variety of options and products available to customers and has consequently increased the importance of good quality pensions advice and the knowledge and skills required to provide it. The PMI and The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) run regional and national networking events and conferences, as well as continuing professional development training and courses to help keep skills fresh. The majority of occupational pension scheme consultants work for specialist pensions and benefits consultancies. These are organisations that provide pensions advice generally to employers concerning pensions for their staff. You might also work for firms which offer independent financial advice to companies and individuals regarding pensions. Opportunities may also arise with large life assurance companies that run schemes on behalf of other companies. Usually, in these firms you would start work as an IFA and specialise in pensions, consulting with individual clients or larger corporate clients. Job opportunities exist in most large towns and cities throughout the UK. Because of the regulatory aspects of giving pensions advice, most jobs are UK based serving UK consumers.
