Stakeholder Pension Providers

Scottish Mutual Stakeholder Pension Scheme

Abbey National House
301 St Vincent Street
Glasgow
G2 5HN
Tel:
Website: www.scottishmutual.co.uk
Registered: Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Membership: non-restricted

We would like to thank the Scottish Mutual Stakeholder Pension Scheme for kindly supplying is4profit with the following article;

Scottish Mutual - a clear choice for pensions www.scottishmutual.co.uk

After many months of consultation, stakeholder pensions are about to become a reality.

Scottish Mutual has designed its Universal Stakeholder Pension to help your company meet legislation requirements. Universal is an investment-linked pensions arrangement that meets all the criteria for compliance with stakeholder regulations.

One of the areas your company will be most interested in will be the quality of the supporting administration systems and the extent to which they make life easy for you and your employees.

Pensions on the Web
The role of technology in Scottish Mutual's stakeholder plans is crucial. At Scottish Mutual our aim is to improve productivity, service and cost effectiveness for both ourselves and our customers. It is with this in mind that we are developing our 'e-Stakeholder' system.

The system has been designed to facilitate the smooth administration of existing and new group pension business, from the initial set up of the pension scheme, to the ongoing administration processes. We have three important objectives for the system:

• Providing our customers with on-line access to information about their pension scheme
• Making pension processes slicker and faster for all concerned
• Minimising errors in data processing (for us, our members and their employers)

Using the latest Internet technology, our new online e-Stakeholder service will enable you to manage your scheme quickly and easily from your desktop or laptop. You can pay contributions in seconds, check records and update membership - all at the click of a mouse and in complete security. Your staff can also use the service to monitor their own benefits, and keep an eye on the progress of their savings. This service will also enable scheme or plan business to be done online by an Independent Financial Advisor.

Strength and experience
Because pensions are long-term, it is vital that you and your employees can rely upon the experience of your pension provider. Scottish Mutual is one of the country's most respected pension companies with a long and distinguished record of providing impressive investment returns for its pension customers.

As a leading company in the pensions field, Scottish Mutual has been at the forefront of a number of new developments that have maximised value and choice for pension planholders - and we were one of the first companies to introduce a group pension based on stakeholder charges.

• Scottish Mutual plc has over £13 billion of funds under management, and more than 800,000 policyholders.*
• Our excellent financial strength is acknowledged in a prestigious 'AA' rating from Standard & Poor's.
• We have been part of Abbey National since 1992

* As at 30 June 2000

The government believes that the best way to make Stakeholder pensions available to as many people as possible is to provide access through employers. This means, as an employer, you will be required to designate a Stakeholder Pension provider by 8th October 2001, unless you fall into certain criteria that render you exempt.

You can take steps to meet these obligations by designating Scottish Mutual's Stakeholder Pension Scheme. Scottish Mutual has produced a Designation Pack with more information on how to meet your obligations. Your Independent Financial Adviser can request one of these packs for you.

Scottish Mutual offers its products through Independent Financial Advisers. Your IFA will be happy to provide more information about Scottish Mutual and the Universal Stakeholder Pension. If you don't have an IFA, then the following website will give you names and addresses of IFAs in your local area. www.find.co.uk

The information above is based on Scottish Mutual's understanding of the government's current stakeholder rules which may be subject to change.

The value of investments can fall as well as rise and are not guaranteed.

Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

Scottish Mutual Assurance plc is a proprietary company owned by Abbey National plc. Registered Office: Abbey National House, 301 St Vincent Street, Glasgow G2 5HN, United Kingdom.
Telephone 0141 248 6321. Registered in Scotland no. 133846. Regulated by the Personal Investment Authority.