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Alstom Pension Scheme News
2009 Archive 2008 Archive 2007 Archive 2006 Archive Newsletters Latest news 
Latest Newsletter for APS Members The latest issue of the Dimension newsletter was sent out to all Scheme members on 18 October 2016. Click here to view an online copy of the newsletter. (Oct 2016) 
Pension Seminars for Current Employees who are Potentially Affected by Company Restructuring 2016/17Pension seminars are being held at the main Alstom locations in June for current employees who are potentially affected by Company Restructuring in 2016/17. JLT Employee Benefits, the Scheme administrator, are on site to explain the benefits and options on leaving, and to answer any questions from members. Click here to view a recording of the presentation from the seminars (click on the Play button), or click here to view the presentation slides from the seminars. Click here to view a Questions and Answers document, featuring questions raised at the seminars. (Jun 2016) 
Latest Newsletter for APS Members - Win a £25 shopping voucher! The latest issue of the Dimension newsletter was sent out to all Scheme members on 11 March 2016. To be entered into a competition to win a £25 shopping voucher, simply send your answer to us by email or post, by 31 March 2016. All details are in the newsletter. Click here to view an online copy of the newsletter. (Mar 2016) 
Annual Benefit Tier / Contribution Options - April 2016 JLT Employee Benefits wrote to all active members of the Scheme on 29 February with details of their options, including the option to change benefit tier and contribution rate, for the 2016/17 Scheme year. The deadline for submitting your Options Form to request any changes (28 March 2016) has now passed. JLT will send an acknowledgement to those members who submitted an option form. (Mar 2016) 
Information on Changes to Annual Allowance / Lifetime Allowance - April 2016 From April 2016, the Annual Allowance (the limit on the amount that you can build up in pension savings each year tax free) and the Lifetime Allowance (the maximum amount of pension savings you can build up tax free over your lifetime across all of your registered pension schemes) are changing. It is important that you understand how your pension savings are affected by the changes, so that you are able to continue making pension savings in a tax-efficient way. To help you understand the changes, there is a factsheet and a recorded presentation available - click here to view the factsheet, which has a link to the presentation and other calculation tools. (Feb 2016) 
Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) - Changes to Investment Options An announcement was sent out to members who have AVCs with Friends Life, to set out key changes to the AVC arrangement from January 2016. There will be a change in the investment structure of the Lifestyle strategy, which most AVC members are invested in, plus two new funds are being introduced for members who self select their own investments. For further details please see the announcement sent to members. The AVC Booklet and AVC Investment Guide have been updated to reflect these changes. (Oct 2015) 
Get involved! - Applications are invited from active members and pensioner members for appointment as Member Nominated Trustee Directors As the terms of office for the Member Nominated Trustee Directors (MNTDs) are about to expire, there will shortly be vacancies for two Active MNTDs and two Pensioner MNTDs - for further details please see the notices that were issued to active members and pensioner members in September. The deadline for receipt of applications for the MNTD positions is 16 October 2015. (Sep 2015) 
Latest Newsletter for APS Members - Win a £25 shopping voucher! The latest issue of the Dimension newsletter was sent out to all Scheme members on 5 August 2015. To be entered into a competition to win a £25 shopping voucher, simply send your answer to us by email or post, by 31 August 2015. All details are in the newsletter. Click here to view an online copy of the newsletter. (Aug 2015) Ensign Pensions (now JLT Employee Benefits - see below) wrote to all active members of the Scheme in January 2015 with details of their options, including the option to change benefit tier and contribution rate, for the 2015/16 Scheme year. The deadline for submitting your Options Form to request any changes was 27 February 2015. Ensign Pensions sent an acknowledgement to those members who submitted an option form. (Mar 2015) Ensign Pensions (formerly MNPA), who perform the day-to-day administration and pay the member pensions for the Alstom Pension Scheme, rebranded to become JLT Employee Benefits in February 2015. Please click here for details of how to contact JLT Employee Benefits. (Feb 2015) 
Latest Newsletter for APS Members - Win a £25 shopping voucher! The November 2014 issue of the Dimension newsletter was sent out to all Scheme members on 27 November 2014. To be entered into a competition to win a £25 shopping voucher, simply send your answer to us by email, by 31 December 2014. All details are in the newsletter. Click here to view an online copy of the newsletter and the Pensions Advisory Service's warning leaflet on Pension Scams, which was enclosed with the newsletter. (Nov 2014) The latest Dimension Extra newsletter, incorporating the Summary Funding Statement, was sent out to all APS members on 29 May 2014. Click here to view a copy. (May 2014) Alstom Pensions Department wrote to all active members of the Scheme on 28 January 2014 with details of their options, including the option to change benefit tier and contribution rate, for the 2014/15 Scheme year. The deadline for submitting your Options Form to request any changes was 28 February 2014. Alstom Pensions Department sent acknowledgement to those members who submitted an option form. (Mar 2014) On 6 April 2011 the Annual Allowance for tax relief on pensions savings into a registered pension scheme was reduced to £50,000. With effect from 6 April 2014, the Annual Allowance is being reduced again, to £40,000. HMRC has released an online tool so that pension scheme members can check whether they may be affected by an Annual Allowance charge and have to complete a tax return. Click here for details and to access the tool. (Dec 2013) The December 2013 issue of the Dimension newsletter was sent out to all Scheme members on 13 December 2013. To be entered into a competition to win a £25 shopping voucher, simply send your answer to us by email, by 31 January 2014. All details are included in the newsletter. Click here to view an online copy of the newsletter. (Dec 2013) Ensign Pensions (formerly MNPA) sent out the annual benefit statements to all active members of the Alstom Pension Scheme (and to those deferred members who have historically received them) on 30 August 2013. (Aug 2013) The Dimension Extra newsletter, incorporating the Summary Funding Statement, was sent out to all APS members on 30 August 2013. Click here to view a copy. (Aug 2013) The AVC Investment Guide for the Additional Voluntary Contribution (AVC) Scheme of the Alstom Pension Scheme has been updated. Click on the link to view the updated document. (Jun 2013) MNPA, who perform the day-to-day administration and pay the member pensions for the Alstom Pension Scheme, rebranded to become Ensign Pensions Group in June 2013. Please click here to view a copy of Ensign Pensions's letter sent to all members in August, along with the Dimension newsletter. (Aug 2013) Some companies are contacting members of pension schemes and claiming that they can help cash in their pension early. If a member agrees to this then they could face a tax bill of more than half their pension savings. This activity is known as ‘Pension Liberation' fraud and is on the increase in the UK. Although we are not aware of any Alstom Pension Scheme members being approached by these companies, the Trustee feels strongly that members are aware of the potential risks, should the situation arise. Click here to view the Pensions Regulator's leaflet on their website regarding Pension Liberation, for more details. (Apr 2013) A letter was sent on 22 March 2013 to all active members of the Alstom Pension Scheme regarding Pensions Auto Enrolment and Data Protection. Click here to view a copy of the letter. (Mar 2013) MNPA wrote to all active members of the Scheme on 30 January 2013 with details of their options, including the option to change benefit tier and contribution rate, for the 2013/14 Scheme year. The deadline for submitting your completed form to the Alstom Payroll Department in Rugby was 28 February 2013. MNPA will send written acknowledgement to those members who have submitted an option form. (Mar 2013) MNPA will send out the annual benefit statements to all active members of the Alstom Pension Scheme (and to those deferred members who have historically received them) in the week commencing 8 October. (Oct 2012) The October 2012 issue of the Dimension newsletter was sent out to all Scheme members on 11 October 2012. To be entered into a competition to win a £25 shopping voucher, simply complete and return the competition form enclosed, or send us an email, by 30 November 2012. Click here to view an online copy of the newsletter. (Oct 2012) Letters to notify pensioner members of the pension increases from May 2012 were sent out by MNPA at the end of April. Click here to view the details. (Apr 2012) The April 2012 issue of the Dimension newsletter was sent out to all Scheme members on 3 April 2012. To be entered into a competition to win a £25 shopping voucher, simply complete and return the feedback form enclosed by 31 May 2012, to let us know what you think of the newsletter and other communications regarding the Scheme. Click here to view an online copy of the newsletter. (Apr 2012) In February 2012, the Trustee replaced the existing cash fund (managed by F&C Investments) with a new cash fund – the BlackRock Institutional Sterling Liquidity Fund. This change was made following a performance review of the AVC funds. Members’ funds were moved from the F&C fund to the BlackRock fund on 21 February 2012. Click here for further information on AVCs, including booklets and factsheets for each AVC fund. (Feb 2012) MNPA wrote to all active members of the Scheme on 3 February 2012 with their option to change benefit tier and contribution options for the 2012/13 Scheme year. If you wish to request any changes the deadline for submitting your completed form to your local HR partner is 28 February 2012. If you haven't received a letter, please contact MNPA (click here for contact details). (Feb 2012) In January 2012, members who have funds invested in the Additional Benefits Scheme (ABS), or in the Scheme's legacy AVC arrangements (with Equitable Life and Standard Life) were given the opportunity to transfer these funds into the Scheme's current AVC arrangement with Friends Life (formerly Friends Provident). Click here to view a copy of the letter sent to members with funds in the ABS, or here to view a copy of the letter sent to members with funds in the Equitable Life and/or Standard Life arrangements. The deadline for members to submit the transfer form is 28 February 2012. (Feb 2012) The AVC Booklet and AVC Investment Guide for the Additional Voluntary Contribution (AVC) Scheme of the Alstom Pension Scheme have been updated. Click on the links to view the updated documents. (Jan 2012) The October 2011 issue of the Dimension newsletter was sent out to all APS members on 7 October 2011. Click here to view a copy. (Oct 2011) Don McKenzie has been appointed as a Pensioner Member Nominated Director (MND) of the Trustee Board, for a four-year term starting on 1 November 2011. Don has been an Active MND since 2004. The process for appointing the Pensioner MND was documented in the letter sent out to all members of the Plan in May 2011. Click here to view a copy of the letter. (Aug 2011) An Addendum to the Scheme's Member Booklet has been issued, to take into account the introduction of Salary Sacrifice for Pension Contributions from April 2011. A copy of the Addendum was sent to active members of the Scheme in July 2011. Click here to view the Addendum to the Member Booklet, and click here to view the Member Booklet (Aug 2011) Click here to see the notice of the appointment of Richard Dean and Iain Rutherford as Member-Nominated Directors of the APS from November 2011. (Jul 2011) A letter was sent out to all members of the Plan in May 2011 regarding the vacancy for a Pensioner Member Nominated Director. Click here to view a copy of the letter. (May 2011) The Dimension Extra newsletter, incorporating the Summary Funding Statement was sent out to APS members on 23 May 2011. Click here to view a copy. (May 2011) As the Trustee reported in the December 2010 edition of Dimension, the completion of the 5 April 2009 valuation had been delayed while the Company and the Trustee continued discussions on the appropriate level of contributions needed to reduce the deficit. These discussions concluded earlier this year and all of the formal documents and agreements associated with the actuarial valuation were signed at the Trustee meeting on 29 March 2011. Click here to view the 2009 Valuation Report. The Trustees are required by law to send you an annual funding statement detailing the Scheme’s financial health. The statement also includes details of the performance of the fund and the Scheme’s funding objective. The Summary Funding Statement will be issued to all members at the end of May. (May 2011) Steven Ross has been appointed as the independent Chairman of the Trustee of the Alstom Pension Scheme with effect from 28 April 2011. Please click here for details of the Scheme's Trustee Board. {Apr 2011} A letter was sent in February 2011 to all active members, and those deferred members aged between 54 and 60 with benefits in the 2006, ABB, Cegelec or Retirement Capital Plan sections of the Scheme, regarding changes to the Company consent on Early Retirement. Click here to view a copy of the letter sent to active members, or click here to view a copy of the letter sent to those deferred members. (Feb 2011) Alstom is introducing Salary Sacrifice for Pension Contributions from 6 April 2011. Click here for further details. (Feb 2011) The December 2010 issue of Dimension was sent out to APS members on 3 December 2010. Click here to view a copy. {Dec 2010} MNPA will send out the annual benefit statements to all active members of the Alstom Pension Scheme (and to those deferred members who have historically received them) in the second week of November. (Nov 2010) The August 2010 issue of Dimension was sent out to APS members on 10 August 2010. Click here to view a copy. {Aug 2010} MNPA wrote to all active members of the APS in January 2010 with the option to change tier for the 2010/11 scheme year. If you wish to change tier you will be required to complete and submit a Final Salary Switch Form to Human Resources by 28 February 2010. If you haven't received a letter, please contact MNPA (click here for contact details). {Feb 2010} Brian Duffin has been appointed as the independent Chairman of the Trustee of the Alstom Pension Scheme with effect from 1 January 2010. {Jan 2010} Louise Mills has been appointed as the Secretary to the Trustee of the Alstom Pension Scheme with effect from 1 January 2010. {Jan 2010} Reminder for members - the Alstom Pension Scheme is now administered by MNPA - please click here for contact details. Scheme Documents are available here. Older News Click on the archive links
above for more details about older news stories.
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