WEALTH at work - a leading financial wellbeing, retirement and workplace savings specialist, is pleased to announce the launch of its new digital Pension Consolidation service – designed to strengthen its existing offering in this area and help employers to support their workforce to take control of their retirement savings. This easily accessible platform allows employees to consolidate their defined contribution previous pensions into a single, flexible scheme. It simplifies the process by enabling employees to input details of old pensions into the platform, view transfer timelines, and assess values, all in one place.

The launch responds directly to growing employer demand for support that empowers employees to manage retirement savings more effectively and reduce lost pension pots.

In fact, with 3.3 million lost pensions valued at £31.1 billion, the challenge of tracking and managing retirement savings is escalating rapidly. Whilst auto-enrolment has successfully increased pension participation, it has also led to employees accumulating multiple small pension pots as they move between jobs. There are now 13 million of these small pots, worth £1,000 or less, with the number increasing by around one million a year. This is making managing retirement savings more complex and time-consuming for employees.

The new digital Pension Consolidation service addresses this issue by not only reducing the complexity and stress of managing multiple pots but as each pension may come with its own set of charges, it may also help lower fees (by having all deferred pots consolidated in one) with a transparent fee structure. This means more money stays invested for the future. It also provides a clearer view of total retirement savings for better management and focus on meeting future retirement income goals. In fact, seeing the total combined value of a consolidated pension can create a more powerful impact and potentially lead to improved engagement.

Employees can choose from a range of investment options including a target-date fund based on anticipated retirement date, or they can build a diversified portfolio by selecting from a curated range of funds. The service also benefits from an in-house Investment Management team who have analysed the market to handpick high-quality funds to choose from. As experts in financial education, WEALTH at work also provides digital content to help employees understand key investment principles and risk to make informed decisions.

This new service is free for employers to implement and complements WEALTH at work’s comprehensive suite of workplace offerings aimed at improving employee financial wellbeing, including financial engagement, education, guidance and investment advice. Employers interested in learning more can contact WEALTH at work directly.

Jonathan Watts-Lay, Director, WEALTH at work, comments; "Financial wellbeing is a key pillar of employee satisfaction, and addressing lost pensions is becoming increasingly important with a growing demand for support in this area. For employers committed to supporting their workforce in managing retirement savings, our new digital Pension Consolidation service offers a simple, straight-forward approach for employees to bring their pots together. This complements our existing advised service, designed for individuals with more complex financial needs. Together, these offerings support broader efforts to reduce pension fragmentation and enhance retirement outcomes across the workforce."

Find out more about our Pension Consolidation service here