Skip to main content
The Actuary: The magazine of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries - return to the homepage Logo of The Actuary website
  • Search
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on LinkedIn
  • Visit @TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Visit the website of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Logo of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

Main navigation

  • News
  • Features
    • General Features
    • Interviews
    • Students
    • Opinion
  • Topics
  • Knowledge
    • Business Skills
    • Careers
    • Events
    • Predictions by The Actuary
    • Whitepapers
    • Moody's - Climate Risk Insurers series
    • Webinars
    • Podcasts
  • Jobs
  • IFoA
    • CEO Comment
    • IFoA News
    • People & Social News
    • President Comment
  • Archive
Quick links:
  • Home
  • The Actuary Issues
  • September 2013
09

Auto-enrolment main focus of HR managers, survey finds

Open-access content Wednesday 25th September 2013 — updated 5.13pm, Wednesday 29th April 2020

Preparing for auto-enrolment is now the main preoccupation of human resources and benefits managers, a survey has found.

The Aon Hewitt Employee Benefits and Trends Survey for 2013 had 39% of respondents cite auto-enrolment as their main objective over the next year, an increase from 25% the previous year.

Other issues lagged far behind, with 'improving benefit design' on 9% and 'reducing benefit complexity' at 7%.   The survey also asked about employers' state of preparation for auto-enrolment.

Among respondents, 45% had started preparation but were not yet ready, 21% were already operating auto-enrolment and 24% said they were ready for the launch. Only 3% had not yet identified the changes they need to make, while just 1% claimed not to have considered auto-enrolment's implications.

Some 46% of respondents said auto-enrolment made the operation of their defined contribution (DC) plan more complicated, with 33% setting up a new pension plan for their auto-enrolled population.

The survey also showed that 21% of employers had not yet considered the implications of auto-enrolment for pension scheme investment, while 20% had not considered its impact on investment options for their default fund. Aon Hewitt consultant Debbie Falvey said: 'Employers are clearly alive to the fact that auto-enrolment is their biggest benefits challenge at the moment.

'Preparations for auto-enrolment have moved on dramatically since our last survey, and it's reassuring that so many employers of all sizes are planning ahead. 'However, the complexity of auto-enrolment must not be under-estimated.

With almost half of survey respondents claiming that it has made their DC operations more complex, it evidently has the potential to add to the workload of those managing DC schemes'

She said take-up rates for auto-enrolment had so far proved high, with significant potential impact on costs for DC sponsors.

'Employers need to ensure they have assessed and addressed all these implications, to avoid potential nasty shocks just before their staging dates,' Falvey said.

This article appeared in our September 2013 issue of The Actuary.
Click here to view this issue
Filed in
09
Topics
Pensions

You might also like...

Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Pensions Actuarial Analyst

London, Midlands, Scotland
£Market Competitive
Reference
143788

Senior Manager/Director level roles - Life insurance

Stirling
Generous salary with excellent bonus and benefits
Reference
143787

Reinsurance Pricing Actuary

London (Central)
£60-90K depending on experience
Reference
143786
See all jobs »
 
 

Today's top reads

 
 

Sign up to our newsletter

News, jobs and updates

Sign up

Subscribe to The Actuary

Receive the print edition straight to your door

Subscribe
Spread-iPad-slantB-june.png

Topics

  • Data Science
  • Investment
  • Risk & ERM
  • Pensions
  • Environment
  • Soft skills
  • General Insurance
  • Regulation Standards
  • Health care
  • Technology
  • Reinsurance
  • Global
  • Life insurance
​
FOLLOW US
The Actuary on LinkedIn
@TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Facebook: The Actuary Magazine
CONTACT US
The Actuary
Tel: (+44) 020 7880 6200
​

IFoA

About IFoA
Become an actuary
IFoA Events
About membership

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy
Think Green

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to The Actuary Magazine
Contribute

The Actuary Jobs

Actuarial job search
Pensions jobs
General insurance jobs
Solvency II jobs

© 2023 The Actuary. The Actuary is published on behalf of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries by Redactive Publishing Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ