PENSIONS

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UBGPP

UBGPP was initially set up in 2010, it is a retirement saving plan for members of University staff Grades A to I. It is open to all eligible staff on these grades who are not members of UBPAS. The plan is not open to individuals working under casual arrangements who, subject to eligibility, may be enrolled into the University of Bristol Support Pension Plan (UBSPP).

The plan is managed by Legal & General Pension Management Limited.

UBGPP is a contract based scheme and doesn’t have trustees. We have established a Governance Group to periodically review how the scheme is operating and performing. The members of the Governance Group are:

• Andy Nield - employer representative
• Guy Gregory - employer representative
• Tony MacDonald - employee representative
• Pat French - employee representative

The Governance Group will meet at least once a year and is advised by Lane Clark & Peacock. The University and Governance Group take no responsibility for the investment performance achieved for UBGPP members.

Please note that on joining the University, eligible staff will be auto enrolled into the UBGPP.

Contributions and benefits

The contribution structure for UBGPP is designed to encourage employees to save for their retirement, with higher employee contributions rewarded with higher contributions from the University. Employees subject to government/HMRC limitations, are free to save more than 7%, but the University’s contribution is limited to a maximum of 9.5%.

Contributions as a % of ‘pensionable salary’

Employee %	Employer %	Total %
4.0	5.0	9.0
5.0	6.5	11.5
6.0	8.0	14.0
7.0	9.5	16.5

Key features

• Contributions paid via salary exchange scheme so that the member pays a reduced level of National Insurance. Further information about salary exchange is available on the Human Resources website;
• At retirement the savings in UBGPP are used to buy an annuity to provide income in retirement with the option of taking a tax-free cash lump sum.

In addition to the contributions above, the University will pay additional contributions to provide death in service and incapacity benefits, these are currently as follows:

• 6 x basic salary payable in the event of member’s death in service;
• Income Protection Benefit of 50% of basic salary plus a further 10% of salary in respect of University pension contributions to UBGPP payable normally from after 26 weeks absence and could be payable to age 65.

These benefits are secured through an insured group arrangement for all members of UBGPP.

More detailed information for different categories of staff is available as follows:

• Eligible new employees are automatically enrolled into the scheme;
• UBPAS members who wish to move to UBGPP please contact the pensions team on 0117 954 6377 (internal call: 46377);
• Existing UBGPP members can find more information on the L&G website.

Important notes

Pensions are a complex subject, so this web site has been kept as simple and straightforward as possible. Therefore, it could be that there are some points which are not entirely clear and if this is the case you should take up any queries about the web site, or UBGPP itself, with the Pensions Office.

Whilst the Pensions Office is able to help you with details of the scheme, by virtue of Financial Services Authority (FSA) rules, it is unable to provide you with any financial advice. You are encouraged to consult an independent financial adviser before making any decision.

UBGPP news and reports

At present there is no UBGPP news.