Employer FAQs

No. When an employer joins the Plan, the contribution levels they pay for their members is set out in the ’employers’ benefit specification’ which has to be signed by both the employer and the Trustee. As such, the employer has total control over their contribution levels and the Trustee has no power to increase the required contributions. Some employers pay more than the 10%, some are on a journey path to that level, but this is totally in the hands of the employer and not the Trustee.

Most are obliged to, yes. Workplace pensions are a demand of auto enrolment legislation, which helps more people save for retirement. It requires every UK employer to put certain staff into a plan and contribute towards it. Crucially, they are also responsible for running ‘a good quality scheme’.

As the only dedicated plan for maritime organisations and their staff, it addresses all their particular needs. We offer a real alternative to the big, impersonal pension providers – with low transition fees and management charges well below those of competitor schemes.

Unlike many other pension providers, we are an independent pension fund with no shareholders to support. Our not-for-profit scheme is all about best outcomes for employers and people at minimal outlay. Our trustees have a combined 120 years’ maritime industry, trade union and pensions experience, representing both employers and employees. They therefore take a ‘people first’ approach – making certain that the Plan continues to deliver its promised benefits to employers and members alike. Trustees are supported by handpicked industry leading advisors and professionals.

The Plan boosts recruitment and retention by positioning firms as target destinations; accommodates often short-term, flexible working arrangements without extra admin/cost; offers a personal, knowledgeable service, which more general pension companies would struggle to match; delivers low costs and high returns and, as a not-for-profit, offers some of the lowest management fees in the pensions industry.

It is a bespoke pension plan, exclusively for the UK maritime sector, which supports 185,700 jobs. With the sector rapidly evolving and the marine and shipping industries being the largest in the sector in terms of economic activity, eligible members can work at sea or on shore.

Ensign’s plan removes this burden and concern, ensuring that organisations not only meet all auto enrolment demands with minimal cost, but can sign up quickly and easily and deliver best retirement outcomes too.