Frequently Asked Questions
for employees
(DC Section only)
During late 2023 and into 2024, the Trustee of Imperial Tobacco Pension Fund, supported by the Company, undertook a detailed review of its arrangements for its Defined Contribution (DC) members. With help from its investment advisor, the Trustee reviewed the UK market for DC providers. Following this review, the Trustee decided to transfer your retirement savings from Aegon to Legal & General.
The benefits of this move include:
Access to a wider range of highly governed, competitively priced investment funds, including access to ethical and faith-based funds; The opportunity to receive guidance and financial advice at no initial cost to you, as you approach your retirement date; Access to a wide range of online tools, advice, and support, including an option to manage your savings from your mobile phone via an app; and Greater access to additional flexible retirement options via the Legal & General Master Trust, enabling you to draw income flexibly over time without having to transfer your savings to another provider.
Established in 1836, Legal & General is one of the UK’s leading financial services groups and a major global investor, with £1.2 trillion in total assets under management (as at FY23) of which around 40% (circa £0.5 trillion) is international.
It is the largest pension fund manager by assets in the UK. Legal & General uses its size and scale to keep improving the products and services it provides so it can support Fund members plan for better retirements.
You do not need to take any action now. Legal & General will contact you in late October/early November once the first pension contributions have been invested with them.
Details of the new arrangement, including information on the investments available can be found on the Legal and General microsite for the Fund and in the communications issued to members by the Trustee.
If you have any further queries please contact the Legal and General helpline: 0345 070 8686
Or the Imperial Tobacco Pension Fund office by email using: pension.enquiries@uk.imptob.com
You can log in to your Aegon Retirement Account - you can track the value on a daily basis.
You will be automatically enrolled as a member of the DC section on commencing employment with Imperial provided you are aged 22 or over but less than State Pension Age and you earn more than £10,000 a year.
If you do not meet the criteria for automatic enrolment you can elect to opt-in to membership of the DC section. You can find an opt-in form here: Opt in form
Visit lwp.aegon.co.uk/targetplan and click activate. Click the link below to see the steps that follow this.
Following your first month of membership you can increase your contributions. You can do this this though the 'Benefits' area of your Workday record.
Unless you choose otherwise your contributions will be invested in the default investment strategy selected by the Trustee - the Variable Income Lifecycle Strategy.
There are two other Lifecycle strategies to choose from: the Secured Income Lifecycle and the Cash Lifecycle strategies.
Alternatively, you could opt for the Self Select strategy and choose to invest in one or more of the nine investment funds available.
You can find out more about the different strategies and funds available by reading the "Your investment options" booklet and by accessing the investment fund factsheets available on Aegon's TargetPlan website
You can make changes to your investment choices online through your Aegon Retirement Account or by completing an investment change form.
This is normally possible but it will depend on the nature of your previous pension scheme. You should contact Aegon if you are interested in investigating a transfer in.
Your Retirement Account will become preserved and you will no longer be able to make contributions. Your Account will remain invested with Aegon until you draw benefits on retirement. You may transfer the value of your Account to another HM Revenue and Customs registered pension scheme at any time. There are no penalties on transfer - the value of your Account on the date it is closed will be your transfer value.
A lump sum equal to eight times your basic annual salary at your date of death would become payable to one or more of your beneficiaries. In addition, a lump sum equal to the closing value of your Retirement Account would be paid. You can nominate any individual or charitable organisation to receive the lump sum death benefit by completing an Expression of Wish form. If you were a former employee member of the DB section when it closed to future accrual on 30 September 2023 there may also be other benefits payable to your dependants in line with the Rules of the DB section.
You have the following options:
1) Transfer the value of your Retirement Account to an income drawdown policy.
2) Use the value of your Retirement Account to purchase an annuity.
3) Take the value of your Retirement Account as a cash lump sum (25% would be paid tax-free whilst the remaining 75% would be subject to income tax).
Under current legislation, under all three options above, you can take up to 25% of the value of your Retirement Account as a tax-free cash lump sum on retirement.
If you were a former employee member of the DB section when it closed to future accrual on 30 September 2023 you will have the option to combine your DC benefits with your DB benefits when you draw your benefits on retirement.
