Employers congratulated by minister for staff pensions

Pensions Minister Steve Webb handed out awards today for the pensions industry’s top mark of excellence to three employers for their staff pension.

The Pension Quality Mark PLUS has been given to representatives from Lloyds Banking Group, the British Medical Association (BMA) and Lilly SIPP at the National Association of Pension Funds’ (NAPF) Annual Conference before an audience of almost a thousand delegates.

The Pension Quality Mark PLUS (PQM PLUS) standard is given to those employers who provide an outstanding defined contribution (DC) pension schemes to their employees.

Steve Webb, Pensions Minister, said:

“Workplace pension saving is one of the best ways for people to save for the retirement they want. All efforts that employers make to encourage saving should be commended and I congratulate those employers who have been selected to receive the Pension Quality Mark PLUS today.”

Joanne Segars, Chief Executive of the NAPF, said:

“We are delighted that Steve Webb has presented Lloyds Banking Group, the BMA and Lilly SIPP with this mark of excellence.

“We hope that the Minister’s actions will help raise awareness of the importance of providing strong workplace pensions. Thanks to the employers’ contributions and the tax breaks that come with them, occupational pensions represent one of the best vehicles to save for retirement.”

The Pension Quality Mark (PQM) was launched by the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) in September 2009. Over 70 schemes now qualify and over 150,000 active scheme members are now covered by schemes that carry the Mark. There are two standards, PQM and PQM PLUS.

PQM PLUS is the superior standard, which recognises DC schemes whose contributions are of at least 15 per cent, with a minimum employer contribution of 10 per cent.