Trustee's duties

The Trustee has a number of responsibilities and must always act in the best interest of ALL the Plan beneficiaries - which includes deferred members, pensioners and beneficiaries, as well as active members (current employees). Specifically, its over-riding mission is "to pay all of the benefits as they fall due under the Plan, in accordance with the Trust Deed and Rules."

In addition, Trustee Directors:

  • Must understand and comply with the provisions of the Trust Deed (which is the legal basis for the Plan and how it works)
  • Should be a prudent man or woman of business
  • May not profit from their position
  • Must understand issues concerning funding of the Plan, investments of the Plan and risk assessment
  • Must invest the contributions of members and the sponsoring company (Royal Mail Group) in an appropriate manner
  • Must appoint professional advisers to assist in their management of the Plan (i.e. solicitors, an actuary etc)
  • May delegate day-to-day management of the Plan as appropriate to ensure effective administration
  • Must exercise their discretion where benefits may need to be decided.

Governance

Monitoring
To help protect benefits, the Trustee also monitors Royal Mail's financial strength and commitment to the Plan, using external financial advisers.

Investment
Contributions paid into the Plan, by both members and the Company, are invested by the Trustee in a mix of shares, Government securities, property and other investments. The benefits of the Plan are paid from the proceeds of these investments.

Administration
The Plan is administered by the Pensions Service Centre on behalf of the Trustee.

Keeping you informed
The Trustee will normally send active members a 'Benefit Illustration' every year giving details of your projected future benefits. Deferred members are usually sent a statement each year showing the current value of their deferred benefits. All members of the Plan are sent a summary of the Plan's annual Report and Accounts.

The Trustee's full annual Report and Accounts, which includes details of the Plan's general progress and investment information, is available on request from the Pensions Service Centre.

The most recently published editions of the summary and full versions of the Plan's annual Report and Accounts are available to view or download through this website on the 'Plan Report and Accounts' page.