The Inmarsat Pension and Savings Plan

The decision to move to the Inmarsat Pension and Savings Plan has been made by the Company alone - the Trustees therefore did not have a formal role in that decision and were not a party to the consultation. However, as the Company wishes to transfer member benefits built up in the Inmarsat Pension Plan DC Tier to the Inmarsat Pension and Savings Plan, the Company has asked the Trustees to confirm they have no concerns with the proposal in principle. The Trustees have given the Company this confirmation which was subject to the outcome of the consultation and the agreement of legal terms in respect of the transfer with Fidelity.

The Pensions Regulator has issued guidance to employers regarding pension consultations, and Inmarsat reflected on that guidance during the consultation period. The Pensions Regulator believes that it is important to allow employees to provide their views on proposed changes to pension schemes before any final decisions are made as to whether or not to implement these changes. 

The Pensions Regulator will investigate reports of cases where it believes that Inmarsat and/or Fidelity Master Trust Trustees behaviours give cause for concern. The Pensions Regulator can be contacted at:

Napier House
Trafalgar Place
Brighton 
BN1 4DW

If you are a current employee of Inmarsat and do not want to become a member of the new arrangement, you will have the chance to opt-out. 

Current employees of Inmarsat will be sent a welcome pack by Fidelity in January 2022 - in this pack will be an opt-out form. Simply complete and return this form to Fidelity and we will cancel your membership of the Inmarsat Pension and Savings Plan. If you opt-out within 30 days of receiving that notice, any contributions you have made to the new Plan will be refunded to you.

Please be aware though, that the Inmarsat Pension Plan DC Tier will be closed in February 2022, so by opting-out you will no longer be a member of Inmarsat’s workplace pension plan and may be giving up valuable retirement benefits, including your employers contributions to the Inmarsat Pension and Savings Plan.

Please note, that if you opt-out of the new Plan and do not transfer your savings held under the Inmarsat Pension Plan DC Tier before 18 December 2021, those savings will automatically be moved into the Inmarsat Pension and Savings Plan and an account will be established for you. You will not be an ‘active’ member and no contributions will be deducted from your salary or made by Inmarsat on your behalf.

If you do opt-out of the Inmarsat Pension and Savings Plan, under government legislation, you will be automatically re-enrolled in three years’ time (with the choice to opt-out again). 

You can also elect to join the new plan at any time in the future if you opt-out and then change your mind - contact your benefits department for further details on the process.

If you are an ex-employee of Inmarsat and do not want to become a member of the new Plan, you have the option to transfer your savings built up in the old Plan to an alternative arrangement before 17 December 2021.

Yes. Investment was one element of the due diligence undertaken in relation to the Fidelity Master Trust. The Company also considered the stability of Fidelity and its long-term commitment to the Master Trust market; costs and charges; quality of administration; governance; communications and the processes surrounding taking benefits. 

Past investment performance was one of the investment factors considered (noting a number of funds from both the old Plan and the Fidelity Master Trust are passive/index funds) and the main focus was on the selection of the new default investment. Other investment issues considered were the range of other funds available; environmental, social and governance aspects, including climate change; and importantly the terms on which members’ pension savings built up in the current Plan would be transferred to the Inmarsat Pension and Savings Plan. 

On 18 January 2022, members of the Inmarsat Pension Plan DC Tier will have their savings from the current Plan moved into the Inmarsat Pension and Savings Plan as part of a bulk transfer exercise. 

The options you have for your Inmarsat Pension Plan DC Tier savings are: 

• Transfer to the new Plan and be invested in the default investment option - FutureWise, or
• Transfer to the new Plan and invest in funds similar to your current investments, or
• Transfer to the new Plan and choose new funds from the range available.

Ex-employees will also have the option to transfer their savings to an alternative pension arrangement before 17 December 2021. 

Please note that you will not be able to leave any savings in the Inmarsat Pension Plan DC Tier as this arrangement will be closed in February 2022. Any savings left in your account after 17 December 2021 will be transferred into the new Plan on 18 January 2022.

Current Inmarsat employees will be able to pre-select their investment funds for their future contributions and their transfer amount. Ex-employees of Inmarsat will be able to select the funds for their transfer amount only (as they can no longer contribute to Inmarsat’s workplace pension plan).

Letters will be sent in November that explain how to make your investment choices for your Inmarsat Pension Plan DC Tier savings. 

You will have the following investment choices available to you:

• Take no action – your savings will be transferred and invested in the default investment for the new Plan, FutureWise. Please note if you do not make a new investment decision (even if you have previously made your own fund choices previously in the Inmarsat Pension Plan DC Tier) you will be automatically invested in FutureWise.
• Invest in similar funds – if you want to invest in the same type of funds under the new Plan as you are under the Inmarsat Pension Plan DC Tier you can choose to have your savings ‘mapped’ into similar funds under the Inmarsat Pension and Savings Plan.
• Choose new funds – you can also select funds from the new Plan’s range of funds for your savings to be invested in.

If you want to invest in similar funds or choose new funds for your existing savings under the new Plan you will need to complete the Investment Choices form and return it to Fidelity before 17 December 2021. 

If members do not return the form to Fidelity before 17 December 2021, their existing savings will be automatically invested in the default investment, FutureWise. 

Any decision you make on where your savings are invested can be changed at a later date.

If you are a current employee of Inmarsat you will be able to do this. This is because you have both existing savings and future contributions; these are regarded as different contribution types.

The different contribution types can be invested in different ways. This can be completed on the ‘Investment choices’ form or at a later date by logging in to your PlanViewer account and using the ‘Change investments’ function. 

Please note that if you transfer your savings from the old Plan into FutureWise (the default investment) and then select different investment funds for your future contributions, your existing savings in the FutureWise funds will no longer be subject to rebalancing.

Rebalancing is the process of periodically adjusting the percentages of your investment in each of the lifestyle funds, so that they meet their target asset allocation. Rebalancing of your FutureWise investment will stop if your future contributions are invested in any of the other options. 

No, members would not be charged to implement the transfer to the new plan. It is intended that your existing savings in the current plan will be transferred to the Inmarsat Pension and Savings Plan and there would be no explicit reduction in your Inmarsat Pension Plan DC Tier fund values to achieve this.

Current employees of Inmarsat will not be able to transfer their existing savings to an alternative pension arrangement. 

Ex-employees of Inmarsat will be able to transfer their Inmarsat Pension Plan DC Tier savings to an alternative pension plan. 

If you no longer work for Inmarsat and want to do this, you have until 18 December 2021 to complete the transfer of your Inmarsat Pension Plan DC Tier savings to a pension plan of your choice. 

After that date, any monies remaining in your old Plan account will be transferred into the Inmarsat Pension and Savings Plan and an account will be set up for you under that Plan. You will then be able to transfer your savings out of the Inmarsat Pension and Savings Plan at any point in the future if you wish.

It will be possible to transfer other pension savings into the Inmarsat Pension and Savings Plan. There are no specific charges made by Fidelity for investing a transfer value from another pension arrangement. Whether there are any charges for making the transfer from the transferring arrangement will depend on the terms of that arrangement. If you are interested in making a transfer, you should ask the provider of the relevant arrangement about any charges that may apply and consider obtaining independent financial advice.

The intention is to transfer members’ pension savings in the current Plan to the Inmarsat Pension and Savings Plan. However, the Inmarsat Pension and Savings Plan would offer the flexibility to take partial benefits and remain active in the plan. 

It is also possible for you to take the benefits you have accrued with the current Plan prior to these being transferred to the Inmarsat Pension and Savings Plan, if you are aged 55 or over. 

However, taking your benefits could affect the amount that can be paid by you and the Company into the new Plan. It is strongly recommended that you take the advice of an independent financial adviser if you wish to consider any of these options.