Active member A member who is currently accruing benefits in a pension scheme.
Annual management charge A charge levied annually by a pension provider on a member’s pension fund to cover the costs associated with providing that pension scheme. The charge is usually levied as a percentage of the total fund value.
Automatic enrolment Pension scheme enrolment technique whereby an employer automatically enrols eligible jobholders in the workplace pension scheme without the employees having to make a separate application for membership. Employees are able to opt out of the scheme if they prefer.
Certification To be able to use a defined contribution (DC) scheme after the workplace pension reforms are implemented, employers will have to demonstrate that they pay all jobholders that are enrolled who do not decide to opt out the minimum contribution. The process by which this must be done is called certification. Changes to the certification process were recommended in the Making Automatic Enrolment Work Review.
Commission-based In the context of this study, an intermediary that charges the provider commission, based on the pensions products that are sold. The basis for the commission is individually negotiated between the provider and the intermediary. The provider usually attempts to recover the cost of this commission by increasing the value of the annual management charge applied to the member’s fund.
Contract-based pension A DC pension scheme purchased by an individual, either through their employer or individually, from a pension provider. It is owned entirely by the individual with the contract existing between the individual and the pension provider.
Corporate wrap An integrated financial planning platform for employees. Rather than just paying into a pension fund, in a corporate wrap arrangement employer and employee contributions can be paid into one of a number of different financial products that are part of the wrap, depending on which product the member deems most appropriate to their needs.
Defined benefit scheme An occupational pension scheme that provides benefits based on a formula involving how much a person is paid at retirement (or how much a person has been paid on average during their membership of the scheme) and the length of time they have been in the pension scheme.