Awarded for the Plan’s
Money Purchase 2003 section
Pearson Group Pension Plan
Annual report
to members 2013
Welcome
The trustee directors are delighted to present
your 2013 annual members’ report, informing
you about the latest developments in your Plan.
The Summary Funding Statement on
page 3 updates you on the funding
position of the Plan and shows the
improvement since the last full
actuarial valuation. As in previous
years, the Trustee and Pearson
have continued to work together
constructively to seek to ensure the
security of your pension benefits.
Pearson started automatically
enrolling employees into the Plan
under the Government’s automatic
enrolment regulations in 2013. A
new section of the Plan, the Auto
Enrolment section, was introduced
to meet the statutory requirements
– see page 7 for details.
Following the merger of Penguin
with Random House, a new pension
scheme, the Penguin Pension Plan,
was created with effect from
1 July 2013 for eligible Penguin
employees who had been members
of the Pearson Group Pension Plan.
Further details can be found on
page 9.
If you are a member of the Money
Purchase 2003 section, pages 6
and 7 provide an update on the
investment funds and issues
specifically relevant to you. We will
send you a newsletter providing
more detailed information later in
the year.
In his 2014 Budget speech the
Chancellor announced some
significant changes to the rules
which apply to pension saving which
may be relevant for some of our
Plan members. There is an update
on these proposals on page 9.
It is with deep regret that we have
to inform members of the deaths
of two great servants of the Plan.
David Hall, who had served as a
member-nominated trustee director
since 2002, died on 11 December
2013. Peter Cabrelli, who served
as a company-nominated trustee
director from 1991 to 2000,
died on 11 March 2014.
I hope that you find this report
helpful and that it gives you a good
understanding of the Plan and
current pensions matters. We
always welcome your feedback
on how we can help you better
understand your benefits. Please
contact us via the Pensions
Department using the details on
the back page.
James Joll
Chairman, Pearson Group Pension
Trustee Limited
Inside...
Summary
Funding Statement
3
Financial highlights
4
Investment perspective
5
Money Purchase 2003 section 6
News updates
2
8
Running the Plan
10
Your contacts
12
Summary Funding Statement 2014
It is part of the Trustee’s responsibility to make sure that
a full valuation of the Plan is carried out at least every
three years. The Plan Actuary estimates the eventual
cost of future Plan benefits, using assumptions agreed
between the Trustee and the Company about the main
variables that affect it. These include how long members
might live, the likely level of future salary increases and
the long-term rates of inflation and investment returns.
The most recent full valuation was carried out as at
1 January 2012. This Summary Funding Statement
provides the results of the full valuation and also the
results of the Plan Actuary’s estimates of the position
as at 1 January 2013 and 1 January 2014.
Funding position as at January 2012
The results of the full valuation as at 1 January 2012
were as follows:
Assets £2,201 million
Liabilities £2,411 million
(current money available)
(amount required now to provide benefits)
Deficit £210 million
(shortfall because liabilities are higher than assets)
Funding level
91%
Future contributions
To remove the shortfall of £210 million shown by the
2012 valuation, the Trustee and Company have agreed
that the Company will pay contributions of £40.8 million
per annum from 1 January 2012 to 30 June 2017 into
the Plan (plus an additional £75,000 each quarter up to
and including 30 September 2015), in addition to its
normal contributions.
These additional payments are expected to remove the
shortfall by the end of June 2017. The Trustee has also
agreed with the Company that supplementary payments
(up to a maximum of £15 million per annum) will be
made when Pearson’s cashflow position allows such
payments to be made without prejudicing its credit rating
or if Pearson’s dividends increase by more than 5% per
annum. Pearson has also provided the Trustee with a
formal guarantee that it will meet the obligations to the
Plan of any of the subsidiary employers should it be
required to do so.
Estimated position as at 1 January 2014
The Trustee also reviews the funding position annually on
an informal basis. As set out in last year’s Summary Funding
Statement, an interim update was carried out as at
1 January 2013, which showed an estimated funding level
of around 94% compared with 91% at 1 January 2012.
The interim update as at 1 January 2014 has now been
completed and this showed an estimated funding level
slightly below 100%. The estimated improvement
over 2013 is largely a result of investment returns on
the Plan’s assets being higher than assumed and the
Company contributions which included deficit payments
totalling £56.1 million, exceeding the cost of benefits
accruing over the period. This improvement has been
partially offset by the revision of the actuarial assumptions
used to calculate the liabilities, which reflect the changes
in both market conditions and the Plan’s strategic asset
allocation over 2013.
Other information we have to tell you
Our aim is to have enough money in the Plan to pay
pensions as they fall due but, of course, we don’t know
what the future will bring. The law requires us to tell you
that, under some unlikely circumstances, such as if the
Company decides to stop paying into the Plan or goes
out of business, the Plan may be terminated (known as
‘winding up’). In this scenario, the Trustee might have to
buy out all the member benefits from an insurance
company. Although there is no intention to wind up
the Plan, we are required to let you know that as at
1 January 2012, the Plan would have had enough money
to provide around 66% of the members’ benefits from
an insurance company. This is estimated to have
improved to over 75% as at 1 January 2014. Insurers
need to take a cautious view of the future and to make a
profit, which is why it is expensive to secure the benefits
in this way.
We also need to tell you if there has been any payment
to the Company from the Plan since the last Summary
Funding Statement was issued. We can confirm that no
such payment has been made. We are also required to
tell you if the Pensions Regulator has used its powers in
relation to the Plan to modify the future benefits, provide
direction regarding the calculation of the Plan’s liabilities
or impose a Schedule of Contributions. We can confirm
that the Pensions Regulator has not used any of these
powers in relation to the Plan.
3
The Plan’s finances
Pension Protection Fund
(PPF)
The highlights
from the financial year ended 31 December 2013
£’000
Value of the Plan’s assets on 31 December 20122,402,396
Money coming in
Company contributions
Member contributions
Transfers in
Investment and other income
96,723
11,335
1,774
41,608
Total income151,440
Money going out
Pensions paid
72,370
Payments to and on account of leavers
7,521
Commutations10,608
Purchase of annuities
1,500
Lump sum death benefits
731
Other payments
425
Investment management expenses
3,580
Administration expenses, including fees for professional advisers
2,863
Total expenditure
99,598
Plus change in market value of investments
203,539
Value of Plan’s assets on 31 December 20132,657,777
The PPF was set up to protect your
pension benefits. It is a type of
‘compensation plan’ and an annual
levy is paid into the fund by all final
salary arrangements like ours.
The PPF will provide compensation if
the Company becomes insolvent and
the Plan does not have enough money
to pay the benefits promised to
members. However, the benefits
provided by the PPF would be less
than the full amounts previously
due from the Plan.
Further information and guidance is
available on the PPF’s website at:
www.pensionprotectionfund.org.uk.
Or you can write to: PPF, Renaissance,
12 Dingwall Road, Croydon CR0 2NA.
The Plan’s formal Report and Accounts
for the year ended 31 December 2013
have been audited by Crowe Clark
Whitehill LLP, which has confirmed
that they show a true and fair view of
the Plan’s financial transactions over
the period.
Membership changes
On 31 December 2013 there were 26,858 Plan members. The numbers of members in the Money
Purchase sections and Final Pay sections are shown in the chart below. There are no Plan pensioners
shown in the Money Purchase sections because, on retirement, money purchase members choose
which insurance company they wish to provide their benefits.
Money Purchase sections
Final Pay sections
4%
35%
65%
Total
10,781
53%
Total
16,077
Active members
43%
Deferred members
557
6,938
Pensioners8,582
4
Active members
3,798
Deferred members
6,983
Total members26,858
Investment perspective
The Trustee is responsible for setting and managing the investment strategy of the Plan. This
is a complex area and the Trustee has an Investment Committee, Property Trustee and
specialist advisers to help it. The Trustee has outlined its investment aims for the Plan in the
Statement of Investment Principles, which is available in the Library section of the Plan website.
The Trustee regularly considers the allocation of the
Plan’s assets that support Final Pay benefits. As the Plan
matures, more and more of its liabilities will be made up
of pensions in payment. These liabilities are mirrored
more closely by fixed income investments such as bonds
and inflation linked investments in infrastructure and
property (‘matching assets’), rather than by return
seeking investments, such as equities (stocks and shares
in companies).
How were the Plan’s Final Pay assets
invested in 2013?
During 2013, it was agreed to increase the allocation
to matching assets from 50% to 60% and to reduce
the allocation to return seeking assets correspondingly.
This forms part of a derisking process as the Plan’s
financial position improves.
On 31 December 2013 the actual spread of
investments was:
How did the investments perform?
Over the 12 months to 31 December 2013, the Plan’s
assets produced an overall performance of 8.8%.
The Plan’s return seeking assets achieved a return for the
year of 18.9%, reflecting the performance of global
equity markets. This was balanced by the liability
matching assets which, reflecting the poor performance
of bond markets, had a return over the year of 0.3%.
Who are the investment managers?
During the year, the professional investment managers
listed below looked after the Plan’s investments on
a day-to-day basis.
Fixed interest & index linked
Rogge Global Partners (until 10 March 2014)
Legal & General Investment Management
Segregated gilts mandate
Legal & General Investment Management
TargetActual
allocation
allocation
Return seeking assets
40%
42%
Equities
23%27%
Property
5%4%
Hedge Funds
3%
2%
Private Equity
4%
4%
Infrastructure
5% 5%
UK equities
Jupiter Asset Management
Liability matching assets
Bonds Infrastructure
Property
Property
LaSalle Investment Management
CB Richard Ellis
The difference between
the actual and target
allocations was due to
movements in the
market value of
investments.
A rebalancing process
comes into effect if the
difference exceeds 5%.
60%
58%
50%
45%
2% 6%
8%7%
Global equities
Legal & General Investment Management
Walter Scott & Partners (from 1 February 2013)
Long term long only equities
Carnegie Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A/S
Private equity
Pantheon Ventures
Infrastructure
Meridiam Infrastructure Managers
Alinda Capital Partners
EQT Infrastructure
Uberior Infrastructure
InfraRed Capital Partners
Macro hedge fund
Bridgewater Associates
5
Money Purchase update
On 31 December 2013, the value of members’ investments in the Money Purchase 2003
section totalled over £292 million. The following chart shows the performance of each fund
over 12 months, based on an initial investment of £1,000 at 1 January 2013.
Return on £1,000 investment over one year to 31 December 2013
Aquila 30:70 Currency Hedged Global Equity Index
£1,234
Aquila World (ex UK) Equity Index
£1,245
Aquila UK Equity Index
£1,196
Aquila Over 15 Years Corporate Bond
£977
Aquila Over 5 Years UK Index Linked Gilts
£1,004
Aquila Over 15 Years UK Gilt Index
£940
Money Market
£1,002
Jupiter Ecology
£1,296
Threadneedle Pensions Property
£1,089
Standard Life Global Absolute Return Strategies
£1,068
Schroder Life Intermediated Diversified Growth
£1,119
£0
£300
£600
£900
£1200
£1500
Please remember that you don’t have to wait until you receive your annual benefit statement to see how your
Pension Fund is doing – you can get a statement any time you like from the Friends Life membersite at
www.friendslife.co.uk/membersite.
New online tools
Friends Life, which administers the investment
arrangements for the Money Purchase sections, changed
to a new administration platform (‘the New Generation
Platform’, or ‘NGP’) in June 2014. The move is
administrative only and does not require any action
from members. If you are in one of the money
purchase sections, or have Additional Voluntary
Contributions invested with Friends Life, you should
have received separate communications about this
change. Please let the Pensions Department know if
you have not. NGP provides additional e-tools to help
with your financial planning which you can access via
the Friends Life membersite.
6
elearn helps you to learn about money management,
tax and different types of savings and investments.
It gives you the tools and information you need to
understand the importance of effective financial planning.
etutor offers three interactive online learning modules:
• Why do I need a pension?
• How much should I pay in?
• Where should I invest?
evaluate helps you to consider your attitude to
investment risk and forecasts your possible future
retirement income by looking at a range of scenarios.
Choosing your retirement age
You can use a Selected Retirement Age (SRA) Form
(available from the Plan website) to choose an
alternative retirement age to the Plan’s normal
retirement age of 62. Pensions illustrations, such as
those provided in your annual benefit statement,
will be based on your chosen SRA and this may
help with your financial planning. If you are investing
in one of the Lifecycle Options, the SRA will
also be used for the automatic fund switching
process. Choosing an SRA will not
affect your contractual employment
rights in any way.
Membersite guide
If you’re unsure about how to use the features on
the Friends Life membersite, we’ve produced a guide
to walk you through the membersite page by page.
It explains how to log on to the membersite, view
the information available and use the ‘online’ tools.
You can also download the guide from the Plan
website: www.pearson-pensions.com.
Auto Enrolment section
Automatic enrolment is the Government’s new way of
encouraging people to save for retirement. It means
that employers must automatically enroll employees
into a workplace pension scheme which has to meet
Government standards, called a ‘qualifying scheme’,
if they:
• Are aged between 22 and State Pension age
• Earn more than £10,000 a year (in 2014/15 tax year)
• Work in the UK.
Pearson commenced automatic enrolment under the
new regulations in 2013. There are two sections of
the Plan which are open to new entrants, the Money
Purchase 2003 section and the Auto Enrolment
section. New employees who meet the above criteria
will be automatically enrolled into the Auto Enrolment
section (which meets the Government’s minimum
standards for a qualifying workplace pension scheme).
However, Pearson is also giving some employees
who meet the above criteria the option to join the
Money Purchase 2003 section, which has benefits
that are not available in the Auto Enrolment section,
such as double-matching company contributions, as
well as death and ill-health benefits. Both sections
provide the same range of investment funds via
Friends Life, including the three Lifecycle Options.
The Money Purchase Committee is responsible for
monitoring both sections on behalf of the Trustee.
See the Plan website for a Pensions Information
Summary providing full details about these two
sections of the Plan.
7
News update
Is your Expression of Wish Form up to date?
The Plan pays a lump sum if unfortunately you should
die while still working for the Company. A lump sum
on death may also be payable to the dependants of
deferred members, or of pensioners whose pension
has been in payment for less than five years.
The Trustee has the power to pay any lump sum arising
on your death to your dependants, your family and the
people whom you have nominated in your most recent
Expression of Wish Form. Because this payment is made
under a Trustee discretion, it is tax free.
Please make sure that you complete and return an
Expression of Wish Form letting us know to whom you
would like the lump sum to be paid, so that the Trustee
can make its decision with this in mind. It is also
important to keep your wishes up to date, so if your
personal circumstances change (for example marriage,
divorce or children), you should complete a new form.
If you nominate your spouse or civil partner but
subsequently divorce, your nomination becomes invalid.
You can download a new Expression of Wish Form from
the Plan website or contact the Pensions Department.
Pension tax allowances
The amount that pension scheme members can build
up tax-free from all schemes is determined by two
HMRC allowances. These are the Lifetime Allowance
(‘LTA’) and the Annual Allowance (‘AA’).
The AA is the maximum amount of tax-free pension
savings an individual is allowed to make in one year
from all schemes. If the value of the increase in your
total pension savings in a tax year exceeds the AA then
you may be subject to a tax charge on the excess.
From April 2014, the AA on pension savings reduced
from £50,000 to £40,000. The Trustee has agreed that
a ‘Scheme Pays’ facility will be available to members
whose AA charge exceeds £2,000 in any tax year.
Scheme Pays is a process by which members can
request their pension scheme to pay the AA charge
on their behalf, and the scheme will then reduce the
benefits the member is entitled to from the scheme.
We will be writing to affected members with details
of the options available to them.
8
The Lifetime Allowance (the tax-free limit on the total
value of your pension savings from all sources) reduced
from £1.5 million to £1.25 million in April 2014. The
percentage of the LTA made up by your Plan pension
is shown on your annual benefit statement.
Very few people will be affected by these changes,
but if you think that the new levels may affect you,
you are recommended to take independent financial
advice. Visit www.unbiased.co.uk to find an
independent financial adviser in your local area.
Budget pension changes
Penguin Pension Plan
In his 2014 Budget speech the Chancellor announced
some significant changes to the rules which apply to
pensions savings:
Following the merger of Penguin with Random
House, a new pension scheme, the Penguin Pension
Plan, was created with effect from 1 July 2013 for
almost 1,000 eligible Penguin employees who had
been members of the Pearson Group Pension Plan.
The Penguin Pension Plan was set up to provide
equivalent benefits to those previously provided in
the Pearson Group Pension Plan.
• A member of a defined contribution (DC)
pension arrangement will be able to take their
whole pension as a cash lump sum, with the
facility for taking 25% tax free and the balance
subject to tax at their highest rate. Those DC
members who want an annuity will still be able to
purchase one. Please note that this change is not
due to come into effect until April 2015.
• A member over age 60 could previously take a
trivial commutation lump sum on retirement
where the total value of their pension rights from
all schemes was less than £18,000. This limit has
been increased to £30,000.
• The size of a small pension pot that can be taken
as a lump sum from a pension scheme, regardless
of the total value of pension rights in any other
pension arrangements, has also been increased,
from £2,000 to £10,000.
The Government is also proposing that:
• A new guarantee will be introduced from April
2015, requiring DC members to be offered free
and impartial financial guidance on their choices at
the point of retirement; and
• There may be restrictions imposed on transfers
out to DC pension arrangements from final pay/
defined benefit (DB) pension arrangements.
More information about these pension changes
will be published by the Government in coming
months and the implications for the Pearson Group
Pension Plan will be considered by the Company
and the Trustee as the details become clearer.
The ‘Latest News’ area of the Plan website will be
kept updated.
The planned changes mean that it is particularly
important you seek independent financial advice before
taking any decisions on transfers and retirements.
A transfer of all pension savings from the Pearson
Group Pension Plan to the Penguin Pension Plan in
respect of just over 700 Penguin employees who
were members of the Money Purchase 2003 section
was completed in February 2014.
There has been no transfer in respect of past service
benefits for Penguin members of the Final Pay
sections of the Plan, so the benefits for these
members for pensionable service before 1 July 2013
will be provided by the Plan, and benefits for
service after that date will be provided by the
Penguin Pension Plan.
Plan annual benefit statements
Annual benefit statements have been sent to
members’ home addresses. All active Plan members
and Money Purchase section members who have left
Pearson Group employment but not yet retired
should have received a statement.
Please contact the Pensions Helpline if you have not
received a statement or your address has changed.
Pre-retirement courses
Pearson employees can now attend pre-retirement
courses run by Life Academy, the educational charity,
covering areas including finance, health, changing
relationships and leisure after retirement. Courses are
subject to availability and are suitable for employees
who are within two years’ of retirement. Please contact
your HR Department for further details.
If you need to speak to an independent financial
adviser, you can find one local to you on this
website: www.unbiased.co.uk.
9
Running the Plan
There are nine trustee directors on the Trustee Board –
six ‘A’ directors and three ‘B’ directors. They are
responsible for managing the Plan in line with the
documents that govern it and with the law.
The Company appoints three ‘A’ directors and the
members nominate the other three. The ‘B’ directors
cannot be Pearson employees or executive directors
and they themselves appoint and remove ‘B’ directors,
who have special voting rights and can wind up the
Plan if they unanimously decide it is in the best interests
of all the members and beneficiaries of the Plan.
‘B’ Directors
James Joll (Chairman)
Christopher Penn
John Plender
‘A’ Directors
David Bell Company nominated
Sally Johnson
Company nominated
Jim Marshall Company nominated
David Hall
Member nominated
(until 11 December 2013)
Nim Maradas
Member nominated
Pádraig Floyd
Member nominated
(appointed 20 February 2014)
Nigel RendellMember nominated
(appointed 22 February 2013)
Company Secretary
Stuart Graham
Group pensions director, Pearson plc
Pensions law requires all trustee directors to have specific
levels of knowledge and understanding in order to carry out
their role. Our trustee directors attend regular training
sessions and seminars to keep up to date with developments
in pensions and investments and receive support from their
professional advisers.
Member-nominated Trustee Director (MNT)
Following the death of David Hall in December 2013,
Padraig Floyd, who had been selected as a reserve
candidate following the MNT selection process in
2013, has been appointed as an MNT. Padraig is a
deferred pensioner, who was previously Editor in
Chief, UK Pensions and Investment Group, at the
Financial Times.
10
Investment Committee
The Investment Committee reviews the investment
managers’ performances and makes recommendations
to the Trustee on investment matters. The current
members are:
James Joll (Chairman)
Trustee chairman, former finance director,
Pearson plc
Lynn Ruddick
Retired managing director, Merrill Lynch
Investment Managers
Michael Day
Senior Vice President, Treasury, Pearson plc
Kevin Pakenham
Managing director, Pakenham Partners Limited
Sally Johnson
Trustee director, Senior Vice President Finance, Core,
Pearson plc
Jim Marshall
Trustee director, Senior Vice President Tax,
Pearson plc
John Plender
Trustee director, senior editorial writer
and columnist, Financial Times
Money Purchase Committee
The Money Purchase Committee monitors the Plan’s
Money Purchase sections and AVCs arrangements.
The current members are:
David Bell (Acting Chairman)
Trustee director, former Director of People,
Pearson plc
Jackie Fraser-Smith
Director, Global Business Partner,
Pearson Technology
Robert Head
Director for Executive Reward and Global Share Plans,
Pearson plc
Annette Scott
Pensions project manager, Pearson plc
Louise Jones
Finance director, Learning Solutions
Nigel Rendell
Trustee director, director Medley Global Advisors,
Financial Times Group
Audit and Risk Committee
Advisers to the Trustee
The Audit and Risk Committee’s duties include reviewing
the Annual Report and Accounts, the Pearson Internal
Audit Report and the Plan’s systems of internal control
including the Risk Register. The current members are:
Auditors
Crowe Clark Whitehill LLP
Actuary
DL Webb
Ian Armfield (Chairman)
Actuarial Services
Towers Watson Limited
John Ashworth
Vice President, Finance Transformation and Systems,
Pearson plc
Sally Johnson
Nim Maradas
Trustee director, Supervision Manager,
Financial Conduct Authority
Property Trustee
The directors of the Property Trustee are responsible
for investing the funds contained in the Property Fund,
as well as infrastructure investments, and reporting to
the Trustee. The current directors are:
James Joll (Chairman)
John Hackman
Managing director, Helmskind Finance Limited
Mark Collins
Chairman, UK Investment, Patron Capital Advisors LLP
John Plender
Investment Consultants
Aon Hewitt Limited
Bankers
Royal Bank of Scotland plc
Solicitors
Linklaters LLP
The Pensions Department
The Trustee delegates its daily administration duties to a
dedicated Pensions Department team at Pearson Head
Office, 80 Strand, headed by Stuart Graham, group
pensions director. Reporting directly to Stuart are:
Stephen Beaven
Pensions operations manager
Tom Freeman
Pensions financial controller
Annette Scott
Pensions project manager
Jim Marshall
Tim Strain
Technical and communications manager
Discretionary
Death Benefits Committee
Simon Richards
Pensions administration manager
The Discretionary Death Benefits Committee takes
decisions regarding the distribution of discretionary
death benefits in respect of Plan members. The current
members are:
Christopher Penn (Chairman)
Trustee director, former director of management
resources, Pearson plc
Nigel Rendell
Stuart Graham
11
Your contacts
For general enquiries please write to:
Pearson Group Pension Plan
Pearson plc
Mezzanine Floor
80 Strand
London WC2R 0RL
Or email: pensions.helpline@pearson.com
Website: www.pearson-pensions.com
Or phone: 020 7010 2424
Or fax: 020 7010 6682
If you have a question about pensions payments,
please write to:
Payroll Department
Pearson Shared Services Ltd
PO Box 7613
Edinburgh Gate
Harlow
Essex CM20 2JE
Or email: pensioners@pearson.com
Or phone: 0870 240 6400
Or fax: 01279 621148
The Plan’s Rules are the binding Plan documents.
A copy is available on request from the
Pensions Department.
The following documents are also available and
can be downloaded from the Plan website: Annual
Report and Accounts, Formal Actuarial Valuation
Report, Recovery Plan, Schedule of Contributions,
Statement of Funding Principles, and Statement of
Investment Principles.
Please stay in touch
It is very important that members notify the Pensions
Department in writing or by email of any changes in
circumstances. This way we can stay in contact and
keep you informed about your benefits and other
important matters. Active members should please
notify your HR Department if your address changes.
Keep up to date online
Plan website
Don’t forget that the Plan has a dedicated website at
www.pearson-pensions.com, where you can keep up
to date with the latest pension news and get in contact
with the Pensions Department to ask questions or give
feedback. You can also view or download copies of Plan
documents from the extensive Library, as well as the full
range of fact-sheets and forms that you may need to use.
In 2013 there were over 12,500 visits to the Plan
website. If you haven’t already visited the website,
please do take a look – and use the feedback facility to
let us know what you think of it.
Friends Life membersite
If you are a member of the Money Purchase 2003
section or the Auto Enrolment section, or if you pay
AVCs via Friends Life, you can manage your investments
online through the Friends Life website (www.friendslife.
co.uk/membersite).
You can use the site to:
•View the current investment fund values
•View the investment funds’ performance records
•See how much you and the Company have paid into
your Pension Fund
•Switch funds and/or redirect contributions
•Submit queries or information directly and securely
• Access e-tools to help your financial planning (see page
6 for further details).
Alternatively, you can call the Friends Life helpline on
0845 072 7204. They will also be able to provide you
with password resets on request. We’ve produced a
guide to walk you through the website page by page
which you can download from the Plan website.
Neo
If you are a Pearson Group employee you can access
the UK Pensions space on Neo, Pearson’s online
collaborative platform. The Pensions space is part of
the My Benefits UK area. To keep up to date with the
latest Plan developments via Neo, make sure that under
‘Notifications’ you have clicked to ‘follow’ the Pensions
space and to receive email notifications.
This report has been printed on Cocoon Silk which contains 100% recycled and de-inked pulp from post consumer
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