LifeSight Master Pension Scheme
LifeSight Master Pension Scheme
Author
Discussion

mfmman

Original Poster:

3,236 posts

213 months

Saturday 24th November 2018
quotequote all
Looking for any experience of the above please

I am an ex Carillion employee although I left a few years before the collapse

I have approx £50k in a DC fund managed by an administrator. They have now stated that the scheme will close as there are no reserves left to pay the ongoing admin costs. The funds will be transferred to the above. Never heard of them. Approx £150 will be deducted from my (and everyone else's) fund to pay the shortfall in the admin cash reserve.

I was considering changing how this money was invested anyway as comms has not been too good even prior to the Carillion collapse (the last two years statements have 'gone missing in the post'. So have been looking at SIPPs or adding the funds to one of my two other DC schemes. I expect the charges will be higher than previously (fully expect them too as there is no longer an employer to pick up the tab)

Any one with knowledge of the above, letter states more info will follow but would help me to get some idea of LifeSight and it's performance/costs now.

TIA





Edited by mfmman on Friday 30th November 12:43

mfmman

Original Poster:

3,236 posts

213 months

Friday 30th November 2018
quotequote all
I guess that was a no then smile

Bit more detail, I didn't add the proposed new administrator of the scheme. Willis Towers Watson. Any knowledge of them?

To add to my frustration with the existing administrators. I chased up my April 2018 statement. I received a very curt reply stating that under the rules of the scheme they were not obligated to provide a annual statement for the period ending March 2018 until April 2019! So I have an investment managed by them that I have no recent information on the performance of, and no way of easily gaining this info (there is no on line portal and the fund itself is made up of a group of wider investments).

I guess requesting a transfer valuation is the quickest route to understanding a approximate current value?

number2

5,236 posts

217 months

Friday 30th November 2018
quotequote all
Lifesight: https://www.lifesight.com/

Nothing contentious, effectively a defined contribution scheme run by Willis for the benefit of multiple employers. Willis Towers Watson are a large, pensions administrator (among many other things).

May be helpful https://www.pwc.co.uk/services/business-recovery/a...

If you were in the DB scheme you wouldn't have a fund, but a pension. This will have an associated value - the expected cost of the scheme providing the pension. The DB scheme is being assessed for PPF entry rather than transferring to the Lifesight plan - are you sure you were in one of the DB schemes?



The Leaper

5,706 posts

236 months

Friday 30th November 2018
quotequote all
If you are in the DB scheme, as said earlier, you do not have a fund but you do have a pension. This means that investment performance is of less relevance to you personally.

As regards statements, trustees/manager/administrators are obliged to provide this annually, an obligation that they have met. There will have been no changes since the last statement was sent to you. Also, you have been told that there is an administration deduction of £150 and this will only increase if members demanded and got statements more frequently than annual.

By all means request a transfer value. I suspect that your request may be postponed on several grounds: 1. State of Carrillion pension arrangements being sorted out, 2. large deficit means that the tv may not be worthwhile, 3. recent judgement in the LLoyds pension case which has cause a lot of trustees etc to have to delay calculation while they work out how to react to the judgement.

WTW are a reputable firm with a long history of providing various services, including administration, to trustees of pension schemes. This does not mean to say that they are particularly good or bad at these services.

R.

The Leaper

5,706 posts

236 months

Friday 30th November 2018
quotequote all
If you are in the DB scheme, as said earlier, you do not have a fund but you do have a pension. This means that investment performance is of less relevance to you personally.

As regards statements, trustees/manager/administrators are obliged to provide this annually, an obligation that they have met. There will have been no changes since the last statement was sent to you. Also, you have been told that there is an administration deduction of £150 and this will only increase if members demanded and got statements more frequently than annual.

By all means request a transfer value. I suspect that your request may be postponed on several grounds: 1. State of Carrillion pension arrangements being sorted out, 2. large deficit means that the tv may not be worthwhile, 3. recent judgement in the LLoyds pension case which has cause a lot of trustees etc to have to delay calculation while they work out how to react to the judgement.

WTW are a reputable firm with a long history of providing various services, including administration, to trustees of pension schemes. This does not mean to say that they are particularly good or bad at these services.

R.

mfmman

Original Poster:

3,236 posts

213 months

Friday 30th November 2018
quotequote all
Apologies. DC, not DB. Wishful thinking perhaps laugh.

Have edited the original post

Thanks for the responses, some of which may not be relevant now but that's my fault not yours.


With reference to the statements (and probably again due to my lack of clarity) traditionally these arrived in about June each year.

The last statement I have is dated April 2017. this statement didn't arrive until November 2017.

The 2018 statement hasn't arrived yet (bear in mind the statement is for the period April - March each year) and I won't see it until the info it contains is twelve months old. I don't want additional ones.

Edited by mfmman on Friday 30th November 12:51

boxedin

1,616 posts

156 months

Friday 30th November 2018
quotequote all
mfmman said:
Willis Towers Watson. Any knowledge of them?
They've been good enough for various investment and retail banks for many years to handle their employee's monies.

'past performance is not a guarantee of future performance' ;-)