摘要:Large sections of the UK population are failing to make adequate provision
for their retirement, and one area where provision is notably poor is among people
working for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). Information was gathered from
interviews with individuals from a wide range of organisations active in the pensions
market, for these companies to shed light on the particular barriers to pension scheme
participation in this sector in which over 40 per cent of the working population is
employed. It was found that many finance directors are sceptical of the benefits of
providing pensions for their employees and deliberately structure their pension schemes
to avoid high participation rates. It was also found that financial advisers and pension
providers are reluctant to promote pensions in companies where they perceive the
management to be unsupportive and where there is no clear profit margin. The authors
suggest one way in which management could be motivated to encourage pension
scheme participation among their employees.