Home > News > 2001 > January 2001 > Equitable Life group policyholders
Equitable Life group policyholders
Danny Wilding gives Barnett Waddingham's message to group money purchase, group personal pension or group AVC policyholders. For details of the circumstances surrounding the Equitable Life's recent closure to new business, please see the Equitable website or Rajeev Shah's article.
If you are an Equitable Life group money purchase, group personal pension or group AVC policyholder, then read on.
Although Equitable has undoubtedly suffered following the unexpected judgement in the High Court, with the potential for some detrimental long-term implications, there are potentially even more severe short-term penalties for those who panic. Furthermore, there are many issues still to be resolved (such as potential sales of parts of the business, the potential implications of the judgement for other life offices, and the possibility that Equitable will merge its fund management arrangements with another investment house). There may therefore be many reasons why patience and caution will be rewarded in due course.
However, the closure means that group money purchase and group personal pension Equitable Life clients in particular may not be able to process new entrants, and therefore there is some urgency surrounding the need to review your pension arrangements. Group AVC clients should have more breathing space, but are still likely to want to conduct a review in the not too distant future.
Barnett Waddingham would be happy to provide advice to you. We are currently in the process of advising many others who have all or part of their pension arrangements invested with Equitable Life (whether with-profits or otherwise).
Upon appointment, and following the completion of formalities to allow us to provide investment advice, we would be happy to prepare a report which could include the following areas:-
- The implications of the Equitable Life’s closure to business on your current pension arrangements.
- Alternative investment funds to the with-profits fund with Equitable Life.
- Alternative providers and alternative pension products.
If required, such a report could review the most appropriate arrangements in respect of new employees, and the future service of existing employees, as well considering the implications for your existing pension arrangements.
The criteria against which different types of pension arrangement should be considered could include:-
- The likely overall cost efficiency of delivering retirement benefits.
- The likely efficiency of the administration.
- The reputation of any potential new administrators and fund managers, and the likely exposure to further "Equitable Life issues".
- The likely ease of transition from the existing arrangements.
For further information please speak to Danny Wilding (or Adam Walker) in London, or Nilesh Dodhia in Amersham.
Danny Wilding, January 2003.