Frequently Asked Questions
for deferred members
(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 early 2025 once the first pension contributions have been invested with them.
Details of the new arrangement, including information on the investments available can be found via www.legalandgeneral.com/ imperial in the document library of the helpful resources section.
If you have any immediate further questions about your benefits in Imperial Tobacco Pension Fund you can contact us via email at pension.enquiries@uk.imptob.com
Your pension benefits are payable from your selected retirement age. If you have not selected a retirement age then your pension benefits will ordinarily fall due for payment from the Fund’s default retirement age of 65. You can check your retirement age by accessing your Aegon Retirement Account online.
Under current legislation the earliest age you can draw pension benefits is age 55 (although this is increasing to age 57 from 2028). If you are interested in drawing benefits before your selected retirement age please contact Aegon quoting your Retirement Account number to request details of your pension options.
If you do not draw your benefits early Aegon will contact you ahead of your selected retirement age with details of your pension options. It is therefore important that you keep Aegon informed of any changes to your address.
This will depend on the performance of the investment funds your Retirement Account is invested in. The value of your Retirement Account may fall or rise over time. You cannot pay any further contributions into your Retirement Account once you have left Imperial's employment (or you are no longer on a UK employment contract with Imperial).
Please contact Aegon to inform them of:
Changes to your name (whether by marriage, divorce or Deed Poll)
Changes to your address
Changes to your email address or contact number
Visit lwp.aegon.co.uk/targetplan and click activate.
Enter your Retirement Account number, surname and National Insurance number.
Answer the security questions then create your user ID and password.
You can also download Aegon's App to access your Retirement Account through your smartphone.
Unless you chose otherwise when you joined the DC section as an employee member 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.
If you wish to transfer the value of your Retirement Account to another pension scheme you should contact Aegon who will provide you with your current transfer value and the relevant documentation to effect a transfer.
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.
A lump sum equal to the closing value of your Retirement Account would be paid by the Trustee to your beneficiaries / dependants.
Please complete and Expression of Wish form and send it to Aegon.
Get in contact with Aegon in the first instance but the Pension Fund Office is also happy to assist.
