Five pension providers have received the top ‘gold medal’ rating from consultants FTRC from their workplace pension propositions.
FTRC updates this research on an annual basis, and includes rating for both workplace pension and auto-enrolment providers.
For workplace pensions Aegon, Aviva, Royal London Scottish Widows and True Potential all receive the top ranking.
FTRC also gives Aegon, Aviva, Hargreaves Lansdown, Royal London, Salvus Master Trust an Scottish Widows the same ranking for their auto-enrolment propositions.
Hargreaves Lansdown and Salvus received a silver-medal rating for overall workplace pensions, with The People’s Pension receiving a bronze medal.
Both Standard Life and Nest asked not to be rated, while Legal & General and Fidelity failed to respond to the FTRC survey.
This is the first time that Hargreaves Lansdown and True Potential have been included in this research.
These ratings are designed to assist advisers and employers. As well as these overall ratings, the survey also rates individual providers across a range of sub-categories — such as product offering and administration, scheme set-up, online facilities, communications and at-retirement options.
This year a new category, financial wellness has been included which explores what pension providers can offer to assist members with personal financial management, micro savings and budget / goal management.
FTRC head of workplace research Jason Green says: “Our research includes a broad mix of contract and master trust based schemes, which operate via various distribution channels and cater for different spectrums of employer.
“The granularity of research enables us to identify significant variation in the level of services provided by different types of workplace pension providers, with firms operating in the contract-based arena generally delivering richer support services.”
These ratings should help employers and advisers understand the different operational capabilities and product features between various workplace pensions propositions.
He adds: “We have created these ratings to help employers and advisers make the right decisions in choosing the correct pension provider for their members.”