Survey shows changing face of pensions

Active membership of defined contribution (DC) pension schemes outnumbers that of final salary or defined benefit (DB) schemes for the first time, according to the National Association of Pensions Funds (NAPF) which calls itself the voice of workplace pensions in the UK.

Its latest annual survey questioned 250 NAPF fund members, representing 840 pension schemes throughout the UK, and found that on average trust-based DC schemes had 15,000 active members compared with just 4,500 active DB members.

Survey respondents with trust-based and contract-based DC schemes reported 2.5 million members and £42 billion in assets. Some 2.3 million of these scheme members were active members, more than double the 1.1 million active DB scheme members.

However, the survey found that the average contribution rate has continued on its slow downward trend to 11.7%, compared with 12.5% in 2013. This consisted, on average, of 7.6% coming from employers and 4.1% from employees.

www.napf.co.uk/PressCentre/Press_releases/0442-40th-NAPF-Annual-Survey-tracks-workplace-pensions-from-1975-2014.aspx