This article provides a step-by-step guide as to how you can quickly and easily write a suitability report to a corporate client confirming your recommendations for the pension scheme they should put in place to fulfil their duties, as an employer, under auto-enrolment.
1) Select or add the client
Go to write / view report and select or create the corporate client you wish to write the report to.
2) Add the required sections
Having given the report a name and selected the report type (Suitability Report), you’ll be directed to the Report Builder page where you can add the necessary advice sections.
If you're only making a recommendation for a new scheme then you will simply need to add a New Pension Recommendation section. If there is an existing scheme in place and you wish to make a recommendation in respect to this scheme you will also need to add a Review of Your Existing Pension Plans section.
3) Complete all section wizards
Next you will need to step through the section wizards of all of the sections that require your input, starting with the Introduction Section.
4) Complete the Introduction Section
You will progress through the steps of the Introduction section in the usual way. When you reach the Client Objectives step it is essential you select the following objective as this will trigger the inclusion of certain Auto Enrolment-related content within the report e.g technical notes, risk warnings etc:
“To set up a suitable and compliant pension scheme to fulfil your duties as an employer under auto enrolment”
And as with any advice option you select in the Client Objectives step, you should then add comprehensive Know Your Client (KYC) information to it to ensure you fulfil the regulator’s expectations of you in terms of documenting a client's objectives. You can read more about what the FCA have to say about this here.
5) Complete the Review of Your Existing Pension Plans Sections
This is only relevant when you wish / need to make a recommendation in respect to the company’s existing pension scheme.
6) Complete the New Pension Recommendation Section
Within the Plan Summary step of the New Pension Recommendation section it's possible to select various types of company pension scheme including (amongst others) a:
- Group Personal Pension Plan
- Group Stakeholder Pension Plan
- Master Trust Workplace Pension e.g. Nest, Now Pensions, The People's Pension
Having provided the details of the scheme you wish to recommend, you'll then be guided through a series of steps that will prompt you to provide any other information required to complete your recommendation.
7) Delete the Investment Strategy Section
This section isn’t required for auto enrolment reports and should be deleted from the Report Builder by clicking the corresponding delete icon.
8) Complete the Important Information Section
This is the last section you'll need to complete and is self-explanatory.
9) Tailor the structure of the report
Having completed all of the section wizards you should then tailor the structure of your report by unchecking any optional sections you do not wish to include in your report.
We would certainly recommend that you uncheck the Appendix – Attitude to Risk Profiles section, and depending upon your personal preferences you may choose to omit the Client Declaration and / or Summary of Objectives & Recommendations sections. You’ll find more information about how to remove optional sections from your report here.
10) Download the report
Click the download report icon and the report will download to word. On opening the report you'll notice the report follows the typical Genovo format and structure. However, there will be a couple of bits within the Pension Recommendation section that will require a small degree of editing by you. Simply follow the accompanying User Instruction, make any necessary edits and that's it, you’re done.
Thanks for reading and happy report writing!