Hymans Robertson, the leading independent benefits and risk consultancy in the United Kingdom, has signed an accreditation agreement with Eckler Ltd., a Canadian-established pension consultancy, to provide Guided Outcomes to its defined contribution (DC) pension clients.

This is the first international deal to have been signed by Hymans Robertson to allow for the licensing of Guided Outcomes (GO). Launched in 2013, GO is set to tackle the idea that DC-based schemes do not have the capacity to provide adequate incomes in retirement and give poor value to employers for the  investment. By straightforwardly setting a target salary requirement for an employee, Guided Outcomes assists to vigorously support that employee in staying on the right path to attain that target.

Since its launch, organizations whose employees hold over £2 billion of defined contribution savings have ingrained GO into their schemes. This has led to over 300,000 members being covered.

Just like in the United Kingdom, Canada faces lots of similar challenges in its pension sector. There is a rising number of defined benefit schemes closing to new members, which is resulting in an increase in the number of defined contribution pension scheme enrolments. According to Statistics Canada, between the years 1991 and 2006, the number of people covered by employer-funded defined benefit pension plans has shrunk by 4%, while defined contribution pension membership has grown by 93%.

A partner at Hymans Robertson, Rob Harper, said that since the launch of GO they had noted a high level of interest from employers searching to apply for Guided Outcomes for their defined contribution pension schemes. He further added that the deal recognized the global potential of Guided Outcomes, especially with the Canadian market facing identical challenges to those in the United Kingdom.

He noted that the perception that defined contribution schemes have insufficient yields and are a poor value for money still continues. He gave an assurance that such a view is wrong. Guided Outcomes allows employees to set their own target salary requirement and then vigorously supports them along the path in accumulating their funds.

Managing Principal at Eckler Ltd., Jill Wagman, commented on the issue and said GO had a proven track record with plan benefactors in the UK market. She added they were excited to have taken the services in Canada and predicted the GO scheme would have a positive impact on how things are done.