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 pensions industry. This includes legal, pension scheme governance and actuarial 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 of money for Aegon UK’s workplace pension scheme members.
The IGC published it's fifth report in April 2020. 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 and Alison 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.
Ian, Alison and Ronnie are also members of the Board of the Aegon Master Trust (AMT). A Master Trust is a multi-employer occupational scheme where each employer has its own division within the master arrangement. There is one legal trust and therefore one trustee board. The Trustee retains decision making independence for each division on things such as investment and service providers under a trust wide governance structure. Master Trusts offer employers the benefit of a governance function but with generally lower operating costs, greater simplicity and expediency than a single employer scheme.
We believe the IGC and AMT share common goals and objectives to ensure customers are receiving value for money, therefore there are clear benefits to having individuals who are members of both the IGC and Master Trust.
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.
As email isn’t a secure method of communication, please don’t send any personal, financial or banking information.