Independent Governance Committee
Aegon UK’s Independent Governance Committee (IGC) was set up in April 2015. The role of an IGC is to act independently of their pension provider as a customer advocate by reviewing whether workplace pensions provide value for money, challenging providers accordingly. The IGC makes recommendations to Aegon UK’s Board of Directors regarding value for money for workplace pension scheme members.
To protect your interests, the IGC has a blend of skills and experience from across the pension and customer service industries. This includes legal, pension scheme governance, actuarial and customer service expertise from the independent members and insight into Aegon UK’s business model and its customers from the Aegon UK IGC representatives. Together, the expertise and experience makes sure the IGC is able to make judgements on the value for money for Aegon UK’s workplace pension scheme members.
In 2016 the Aegon UK IGC was awarded the “Best Independent Governance Committee 2016” at the Pensions Insight DC Awards.
The judges commented that the Aegon UK IGC 2016 annual report was;
“head and shoulders above the other IGCs. It had a thorough and well thought through framework for assessing value for money and demonstrated a number of examples where it had challenged the provider in terms of charges and delivery timescales. Its report was easy to read, with plenty of pictures and diagrams to maintain interest and written in plain language.”
The IGC published it's third report in April 2018. You can read this, and the previous reports, by downloading from the menu on your right.
Who is on Aegon UK’s IGC?
Aegon UK’s IGC is chaired by Ian Pittaway and including Ian is made up of five members; three independent members and two Aegon UK members.
Ian acts for a number of pension schemes as legal advisor and has gained extensive pensions law experience on a wide range of issues. Ian is an expert on governance and often advises Trustee Boards on the most effective way to approach and take decisions. He is a former Chairman of the Association of Professional Pension Trustees (APPT) and a former Chairman and Secretary of the Association of Pension Lawyers.
Jo brings with her a wealth of customer service experience from both commercial and not for profit organisations which extend beyond financial services. She has been the CEO of the Institute of Customer Service since 2009 which has enabled her to put customer service at the heart of business activities. Jo brings a unique insight into why customer experience is important and the needs and priorities of customers across all industry sectors.
Colin is an actuary with 4 years of full-time pensions governance experience following more than 25 years of experience in pensions consultancy for trustees and companies. Colin brings experience in all areas of assessment of value for money in varied pension arrangements including the impact of investments and charges.
Paul has worked in pensions for over 20 years, and has held senior roles at BlackRock, Fidelity, Friends Life, IFG and PwC. Since joining Aegon from BlackRock in 2016, Paul has been responsible for the development, distribution and management of Aegon’s workplace investing propositions. Having worked for a number of pension providers and consulting firms, Paul has gained a high level of insight into the pensions industry, which he is able to use to help ensure that Aegon is giving you value for money.
Dougy is a qualified actuary with nearly 20 years of experience within Aegon, holding leadership roles in finance, marketing, sales, operations, and general management. He has been in the role of Managing Director of Existing Business since 2016. Dougy chairs the Existing Business Management Committee, as well as various sub committees, and is a member of Aegon’s Customer Committee, which is responsible for ensuring good customer outcomes across all of Aegon’s customers. Dougy brings a deep understanding of Aegon’s business, relevant operational experience, as well as a customer centric approach and a track record of improving customer outcomes.
*Ian and Colin are corporate IGC members. This means they're employed by companies which provide professional independent services, and Aegon UK’s service contract is with the company rather than the individual.
Terms of Reference
The Terms of Reference applicable to our IGC are available here.
Value for money principles
The IGC has developed its own value for money principles to reflect Aegon UK’s book of business. These value for money principles reflect research amongst Aegon UK’s customers and also amongst broader consumers which asked what they regarded as key to value for money.
The findings showed that as well as looking for low charges and good returns on their investments, customers want a choice of funds, which are responsive to the appetite for investment risk they have and that they want to be able to keep track of their policy’s performance online. These are all reflected in the principles.
Next steps
If you're a member of a workplace pension scheme with Aegon UK, then the IGC’s work is important to you. Aegon UK and its IGC work together to make sure workplace pension schemes offer value for money in line with the principles the IGC has developed.
Future IGC reports will be published on an annual basis.
Get in touch
The IGC is particularly keen to hear from workplace pension members. If you'd like to contact the IGC, you can get in touch by email at igc@aegon.co.uk.