With more than half of all members now in the new system, we’re still in the middle of the Wtp transition. Funds are adapting systems, migrating data and helping members understand what the new system means for them. The pressure on people, capacity and IT is high. What comes next, once the transition is complete, is where it gets interesting. That’s arguably where the most important part of the Wtp begins: making sure members understand where their pension stands and which choices they have.
From system to understandable pension
Members will soon get more insight into how much is paid in contributions, how their pension savings are performing and what pension they can expect. But that only works if pension funds have digital environments that make this information clear and accessible. Members need to see quickly: where do I stand now, what can I expect, and what happens if my situation changes? Can a member find out what retiring early means financially, for example? In short: how do you, as a pension fund, build a digital environment that helps members get to the pension they want for themselves?
IT limitations
When choosing (new) digital environments such as a website, member portal or pension planner, many pension funds run into a problem. They often don’t have the freedom to choose individual parts of their IT estate. In traditional all-in-one solutions, administration, website, portal and other services are often tightly interwoven. If you want to replace one part, you soon run into technical or contractual limits.
That’s why we deliberately chose a modular set-up for our PensionSuite. This lets a pension fund replace or renew individual parts without having to rebuild its entire IT estate straight away. That gives the fund more control over suppliers, investments and future choices.
Building around the member
With PensionSuite, we offer an all-in-one solution that lets pension funds roll out a complete pension website, member portal and pension planner for members, pensioners and employers, quickly and cost-effectively. We keep developing these solutions: technically, but above all based on how pension information helps members in practice.
For example, we now know that layering matters a great deal. Start with the key points and give people the option to go deeper into the story, step by step. Members tell us they find information clearer and easier to follow this way. The less effort an action takes, the lower the barrier to taking it. And that’s exactly what you need to engage members.
Choose what suits your fund
As a fund, you use the complete solution (website, portal and planner) or just one part. APIs connect the solutions to the administration and back-end systems your fund uses, whether they’re new or older. When needs change, you replace parts without rebuilding the whole chain. So no single supplier dictates the set-up of your digital environment: you avoid vendor lock-in and keep control of your own IT estate.
That flexibility also applies within the functionality. For choice guidance, for example, you choose from three levels: Basic, Plus and Complete. For every element, you have a choice.
You don’t have to build it yourself
When every fund has its own pension planner, portal or other digital application developed, costs quickly add up. With PensionSuite, that’s not necessary, and that brings several major advantages.
The first is speed. We set up the basic version of the Pension Portal module within a month, and full implementation of both portal and planner can be completed within three months. You also get systems that demonstrably comply with the Wtp and DORA (the EU Digital Operational Resilience Act), with legislative changes implemented centrally, and pension data that’s properly secured.
Another major plus is that you benefit from the continuous development of our product. More than 25 clients now use our pension solutions. So development doesn’t rest on a single fund, and the product’s continuity doesn’t depend on one implementation or one client request. Features that are relevant to several funds become available to all clients. And costs stay under control because development costs are shared: funds don’t have to pay separately for every new feature, security update or legal change. As a pension fund, you get the economies of scale of a secure, compliant product, while keeping the flexibility to make choices that suit your own members and ambitions. Even as a smaller fund.
Looking ahead
Reliable data needs to become understandable information. Technology needs to make that information accessible. And communication needs to help members act on it at the right moment. This creates an ongoing improvement cycle in which boards and operations steer not only on availability and technology, but also on the real impact for members.
That’s why we bring Yellowtail’s disciplines together in one proposition: pension data, IT, communication and governance. Again as connected building blocks that you choose from as a fund. That way, you create an environment that not only supports members better, but also stays manageable, with control over suppliers, costs, compliance, continuity and future choices. We’re laying a flexible foundation for the period after the Wtp transition, because that’s when the real work begins: a time when funds give members real insight and guide them to the pension they want for themselves.
