Knowledge & FAQs

A pension is a long-term savings vehicle designed for you and potentially your employer to pay contributions into whilst you are working. The contributions may receive tax relief from the States. These contributions are then invested with the aim to grow over your working life. On retirement, the pension may provide you with a lump sum and income during your retirement.

There are a number of types of pension. Please see below for a high level summary;

• States old-age pension: Provided by the Government from your States Pension Age and based on the number of years you have paid Social Security contributions.
• Employer/Secondary/Workplace pension: A pension plan arranged by your employer which your employer and potentially yourself pay contributions into whilst you remain employed. If you are employed in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, generally your Employer must auto-enol you into a pension plan.
• Personal/Private Pension: A pension plan which you set up yourself. You can normally pay contributions into it to help you save for retirement and to transfer pension benefits into it to have them all in one place. In Guernsey/Jersey, also called a Retirement Annuity Trust Scheme (RATS)/Retirement Trust Scheme (RTS).

How a pension works depends on the type of pension and its design. There are two main approaches;

• Defined Contribution: This is how all our Blue Riband and White Ensign range of pension products work and is the most common. The contributions are paid by yourself and/or your employer and are invested depending on your wishes, so you have your own account within the pension plan. The final amount depends on how much is paid in and the investment performance on your account and the terms on which your account gets converted to pension income on retirement.
• Defined Benefit: The amount of your pension normally depends on your length of service and your final salary. It is not affected by the amount of contributions paid in or investment performance.

We offer a large number of different pension plans solutions for everyone, whether you are an employer or individual. Also, our solutions cover different locations, Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man and Internationally.

To find out what pensions might be best suited for you and your business, please use our BWCI Pension Selector

If you wish to speak to one of our Pensions expert, our key contact John Martin and he can help you with any questions you have on pensions. Contact John +44 (0)1481 728432 | pensions@bwcigroup.com

A secondary pension is an additional pension which your employer must provide you if you are resident in the Bailiwick of Guernsey (and you met certain requirements). It is on top of the States of Guernsey old age pension and any personal pension arrangements which you may have.

Congratulations on taking on your first employee.

All employers in the Bailiwick of Guernsey will need to automatically enrol their Designated Employees and pay minimum contributions into a Approbated Pension Scheme. Nearly all Guernsey,  Alderney and Herm employees will be Designated Employees.

For more details, please see here More information about secondary pensions

This all sounds very complex but we are here to help you.

If you wish to speak to our Secondary Pensions expert, our key contact John Martin and he can help you with any questions you have on secondary pensions. Contact John +44 (0)1481 728432 | pensions@bwcigroup.com

Exactly which kind of pension that can be transferred in will depend on the pension product which you are a member of and where you are transferring benefits from. However, we can normally accept transfers in from;

• Guernsey, Jersey or Isle of Man employer sponsored pension plan or personal arrangements
• From UK registered pension plans including employer sponsored and personal arrangements

However if you would like to check, please do not hesitate to contact us.

The benefits of transferring your pension will vary on an individual basis but may include;

• Reduced administration fees
• Reduced investment management fees
• Access to a wider range of investment options
• On-line access to view your pension account
• Easier to manage if your pension is with one provider as opposed to a number of different providers (potentially in different locations)

BWCI will help you during the transfer process (including with any completion of any forms from your previous pension provider). We will manage the process on your behalf so that it can be completed as quickly as practically possible and in the most streamline manner. However, the time scale will heavily depend on the response time and requirements of your previous pension provider.