What is United Pensions?
United Pensions is Aon's multi-employer multi-country pension solution. It currently delivers retirement solutions to employers with operations in Belgium and Netherlands, and is being extended to cover other EMEA jurisdictions. It provides employers with access to economies of scale on a multi-country basis without having to establish and run their own cross-border pension fund.
Smaller pension funds can be disproportionately expensive and onerous to run; a costly and time-consuming legacy for employers and fiduciaries/trustees to manage. United Pensions offers employers the opportunity to finance their retirement benefits more efficiently creating greater sustainability for defined benefit pensions and better and more consistent member outcomes for defined contribution pensions. In particular, United Pensions offers:
- professional governance
- world-class delegated investment solutions
- reduced (shared) operational costs
- reduced employer cash requirements
- complete client servicing delivered by Aon
United Pensions permits every participating sponsor to continue to provide their own specific DB or DC retirement benefits. In contrast with other collective retirement arrangements including many insurance contracts, United Pensions offers greater flexibility for individual sponsors, with tailor-made pension financing plans and a customised investment approach which allows for different risk appetites. Importantly, each employer's pension is fully segregated, providing assurance that the retirement benefits are secure and ring-fenced.
A core part of United Pensions' innovation is the investment solution, where United Pensions has delegated investment delivery to Aon's multi-award-winning fiduciary management service. This gives smaller employers access to world-class investment opportunities usually only available to sponsors with much larger pension funds, together with expert management which is able to respond to an ever more volatile and unpredictable world.
Through United Pensions, more companies have access to cross-border DB financing. This can reduce employer cost, providing members with ongoing DB pension provision at a price that is acceptable to the sponsoring employer. It can also provide a credible alternative to buy-outs which often come at a significant premium and limit benefits for members. For the Dutch market in particular, United Pensions provides a unique alternative for plan sponsors who are required to consider alternative pension financing solutions. To read more on this solution please click here.
From a defined contribution perspective, companies are looking for an efficient way to deliver local and international retirement savings across multiple countries. United Pensions offers the ability to outsource the complete delivery of DC and retirement savings across multiple EMEA countries within a professional governance framework, and maximise retirement and savings outcomes for members.