Our website has been designed to provide you with all the information you need about your pension plan. By selecting your plan and status, you will have access to useful information and downloadable factsheets giving you the latest plan information.

There is also a News section where the latest pension news will be available.

During these unprecedented times, financial security is rightly at the forefront of many people’s minds.

For the individual saver, the recent stock market volatility and economic uncertainty inevitably lead to the key question – how will this affect my pension and retirement plans?

Guy Opperman, the UK Pensions Minister, has released a helpful guide detailing the measures taken across the industry to support savers, answers to many frequently asked questions, and details on the free and impartial guidance that is available.

To read the guide in full, after selecting your status and plan, select Resources > Documents & Publications > Covid 19 and your Pension.

We find ourselves in a period of great uncertainty. But across the board, pensions bodies are doing everything they can to help you get through these difficult times.

The Lifetime Allowance (LTA) is the maximum value of tax relievable pension savings that you can accumulate over all your pension arrangements.

The LTA increases by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) annually on the 6th April each year and is currently £1,073,100.

If you think you may be over the LTA limit, Individual Protection (2016) may be available to you. Please refer to our website or contact Pension Services for more information.

A number of factors are used to calculate the benefits paid by the IBM Pension Plan. These factors are reviewed regularly to make sure they remain appropriate for members, which could result in changes that either increase or reduce future pensions and benefits under each of the different options available to members.

The Trustee has recently completed a factor review and changes are being made to the factors used in the calculation of early retirement pensions, late retirement pensions, commutation factors and AVC conversion factors for the C, N, & DSL sections of the IBM Pension Plan.

Factors will continue to be reviewed from time to time and there is no guarantee that the pension and other benefits provided by the factors will not decrease at subsequent reviews. Factors are used in the calculation of new pension and transfer values. During 2020, the following factors have been updated;

• Early Retirement Factors
• Late Retirement Factors
• Cash Commutation Factors
• AVC Conversion

More details can be found on the News section of our website.

IBM United Kingdom Pensions Trust Limited is the Trustee Company that acts as the Trustee for the Plans and the IBM Group Life Assurance Plan. The Company has nine Directors (the Trustee Directors). Of these, six are appointed by IBM and three are appointed by members (MNDs).

On 1 May 2020, the term of office of the current MNDs came to an end. The nomination process for the three new MND positions ran from January 2020 - February 2020 and voting closed in March 2020. The term runs for three years.

What does a Member Nominated Director do?

The Trustee acts separately from IBM. All the Trustee Directors must:

• Act in line with the Trust Deed and Rules
• Act prudently, responsibly and honestly
• Act impartially and in the best interests of all beneficiaries

Some of the responsibilities of the Trustee Directors are to:

• Collect employer and employee contributions due to the Plans
• Invest them in the best financial interests of the members
• Set investment strategies to invest the Plans’ assets
• Ensure that the benefits promised under the Plans’ Trust Deed and Rules are paid to members

The Trustee Directors work as a team and make all Plan related decisions, having taken advice from their professional advisers (actuaries, lawyers, investment consultants, covenant advisers).

We are pleased to announce that the three MNDs elected were:

Robert Tickell

Ian Shore

Andrew Clark

If you are thinking about transferring out of your defined benefit pension scheme into a defined contribution scheme, then it is very important you read the information available to you. The Financial Conduct Authority has produced some information to help you understand the value of your defined benefit pension scheme, and the implications of transferring out into a defined contribution scheme. It is imperative to seek independent financial advice before making such an important decision that cannot be reversed.

Defined benefit pensions

A defined benefit (DB) pension, sometimes called a final salary pension, gives you a guaranteed lifetime income that usually increases each year to protect you against inflation. It may also continue being paid to your partner at a reduced rate when you die.

Defined contribution pensions

In a defined contribution (DC) pension, you invest funds to build up a personal pot of money and pay charges to the pension scheme operator and investment managers. You can choose how to use your pot to give you your allowable tax-free lump sum and your retirement income.

If you transfer out of a defined benefit pension, you cannot reverse it. Make sure you understand the risks to help you make an informed decision.

For further information and to read the article in full, please visit here.

The FCA has also issued information on what to expect when seeking guidance regarding transferring your pension. This guidance covers topics such as finding an adviser, getting a transfer value and what good advice looks like. Read more about it here.

Guidance is available from The Pensions Regulator on how to scamproof your savings. With pensions now able to be accessed in new ways, scammers are becoming more prevalent and inventive in how to scam you out of your hard-earned savings. They will try to lure you with promises of one-off investments, pension loans or up-front cash. Most of these are bogus.

To scamproof yourself remember to:

1. Stop. Think about it. A genuine adviser will never rush you into a decision.
2. Make sure the adviser is registered by the Financial Conduct Authority.
3. Look at the FCA’s Scamsmart warning list - this will tell you the names of investment schemes that are known scams.
4. If you are approaching 50 or about to retire, Pension Wise* can tell you more about what you can do with your retirement pot.
5. Before you sign anything, call The Pensions Advisory Service* on 0800 011 3797 for information and advice about pension scams.
6. If you’ve already signed the papers, report it to Action Fraud or call 0300 123 2040.
7. Hang up if you receive a cold call about your pension. Unsolicited phone calls, text or emails about your pension are nearly always scams.

For further information, view The Pensions Regulator scams guidance.

Many solicitors participate in Will Aid in November each year. This is a scheme that provides people with a basic will, professionally drawn up by a solicitor who will not charge their usual fee. Instead, the solicitor will ask for a donation (they suggest £95 for a single basic will and £150 for a pair of ‘mirror’ wills) to Will Aid to raise money for the Will Aid charities, which are ActionAid, Age UK, British Red Cross, Christian Aid, NSPCC, Save the Children, Sightsavers, SCIAF and Trocaire.

Find out more about Will Aid.

It is important that you have up-to-date beneficiary nomination information registered with us so that if you were to die, we are able to take your wishes into account. It is difficult enough for partners and relatives to settle someone’s financial affairs after they die, and by having an up-to-date will or beneficiary nomination registered with us, we are able to support your loved ones at this difficult time.

The simplest way to update your beneficiary nomination is by logging onto MyPension. Alternatively, you can request a form by calling 023 9256 8164 or emailing pensions@uk.ibm.com.

Pension Wise is part of the Money and Pensions Service (MPS) which combines the functions of The Pensions Advisory Service, the Money Advice Service and Pension Wise. You can find out more about them at www.moneyandpensionsservice.org.uk.

Pension Wise is a free and impartial Government service for anyone aged 50 or over with a defined contribution pension. You will be able to find out what you can do with your pension pot, how to shop around and what to look out for with taxes and fees. They will explain how to avoid pension scams and the importance of taking your time to make sure your money lasts as long as you do. Pension Wise will not recommend any products or tell you what to do with your pension savings.

For further information about this service, which is run by the Citizen’s Advice Bureau for face to face meetings and the Pensions Advisory Service for phone meetings, see their website at www.pensionwise.gov.uk or book a free appointment by calling 0800 138 3944.

We have two initiatives which are designed to make it easier for you to access information about your pension plan, and to assist the Trustee in issuing timely communication to you in a cost effective and environmentally friendly way.

MyPension

MyPension is a secure, interactive service that allows you to manage your IBM pension online. It allows you to review and update your beneficiary nomination, review pension transactions and fund values, and to access benefit statement and annual allowance information.

If you are a deferred member, you can only view benefit statements issued before your leave date.

If you are a retired member, you are able to review and update your beneficiary nomination, update your personal details, view your annual pension, update bank details and access your P60 history.

Visit MyPension to register. Further information including how to change your investment elections and understanding your transaction history can be found in the MSS Guide towards the bottom of the ‘register’ page.

Sign Up for Updates

If you would prefer to receive updates from us via email, you can register to do so by visiting the Sign Up for Updates page. First select your Status and Plan by clicking on the downward arrow next to Active, Deferred or Pensioner Member, then select your plan from the list given. The Sign Up for Updates option is towards the bottom of this page.

Registering to receive updates will ensure that we can issue documents efficiently, reduce the amount of paper used, and reduce our printing and postage costs too. The Trustee is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected and promises that your email address will not be used for any other purpose than providing you with information about your pension scheme.