Investment Builder

Members who joined OSPS after 1 October 2017 are in Investment Builder, largely administered by Legal and General, which is a defined contribution arrangement

In this type of pension plan, the fund value you build up for your retirement is based on how much you contribute, how much your employer contributes and how your investments perform.   

The OSPS Trustee administer the arrangement under the same trust as existing OSPS benefits: the Trust Deed and Rules.  

The new Investment Builder section is being run by Legal & General on behalf of the Trustee. To find out more details about members’ investment and retirement options you can access the L&G website. 

Under OSPS rules all new support staff employees under age 75 should be enrolled from the start of their employment regardless of earnings level - this is called contractual enrolment. There are no exceptions for short-term contracts or probation periods. However, employers have discretion over employees working on paid-as-claimed hourly contracts. Employers who use OSPS for government auto-enrolment should note that new joiners should be treated in the same way as new employees if they meet the auto-enrolment criteria.

Please note that under scheme rules members have to leave employment before they can claim their pension benefits. The only exceptions are when members reach age 75 and have to leave the scheme or when they take part of their benefits under flexible retirement.

 

Are you paying enough to fund your retirement?

The trustees of OSPS recommend that members elect to move to tier 2 or tier 3. New members can change in the first three months. Other members can change from 1 April and 1 October each year. You can pay voluntary contributions on top of your normal contributions at any time - please see Contributions section below.

 

 

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New joiners will get an email or a letter to their home address from Legal and General. This will give them the enrolment codes to allow them to register on the Legal and General website.

New members at the University will also get an email from the Pensions Office. This will include forms which they can use to change tiers in the first three months (APP5DC) and to start a transfer investigation (TVIN1). New members at other employers should be given these forms by their employer.

New members usually get these letters and emails around the beginning of the month after that in which the first deduction is made from their pay. For paid as claimed members it will be the end of the month in which they are first put on the payroll.

You contribute a minimum of 4% of your pensionable salary each month and your employer pays at least 10% to your fund. You can pay higher contributions if you wish and your employer will also increase the contributions it makes. 

From 1 October 2023 the contribution rates as a percentage of pensionable salary are as set out below.

  Employee contribution Employer contribution
Tier 3 8% 14%
Tier 2 6% 12%
Tier 1 4% 10%

 

New employees will be enrolled in to Tier 2 and you must 'opt up' to get full value for the pension contributions on offer. You may switch contribution tiers twice a year in April and October (and within the first three months on joining).

It is possible to pay more into the scheme (Additional Voluntary Contributions or AVCs) but the employer will not pay any more than stated above. You can pay up to your entire salary into the scheme, taking account of your normal contributions, as an additional monthly percentage or fixed amount or as a one-off lump sum. There are limits to what you can pay if you are subject to the Money Purchase Annual Allowance. You can apply to pay AVCs on form AVC1 (pdf).

All new support staff employees should be enrolled into Investment Builder from the start of their employment. At the University this will apply to all new contracts and appointments.

Opt out from the start

It is not possible to opt out in advance. There is no form for opting out from the start. DO NOT SEND US A FORM TO OPT OUT FROM THE START AS WE WILL NOT ACCEPT IT.

New joiners get a starter letter from Legal and General at their home address. This gives enrolment codes for their account. 

Members who do not wish to join from the start should log on using the enrolment codes before the deadline given on the letter (about one month from the end of the month in which you are enrolled) and opt out. They will then get a refund in due course.

Withdrawal after the deadline

After the deadline members can withdraw from the scheme using form OPT2DC. DO NOT USE THIS FORM TO OPT OUT FROM THE START AND GET A REFUND. College members should send this to their college payroll first of all. University members should send the form to the Pensions Office. Members withdrawing will NOT get a refund.

The Trustee has chosen a default fund which they think is suitable for most members. The investments made in this fund take account of your Normal Retirement Date. It is possible to change your retirement date with Legal and General and use some of the alternative funds the Trustee has made available to members.

If you want to find out more about your investment options please refer to the Investment Guide on the Legal and General website. 

You change your investment options using Manage Your Account.

It is possible for Investment Builder members to transfer benefits into the scheme. 

If you would like to investigate a transfer, please complete form TVIN1 and return to the Pensions Office.

Please note that we can only accept transfers from investment-based (DC) schemes, so transfers from LGPS, NHS, USS and other public sector schemes are not possible, unless the only other option is a refund of contributions.

You can find guidance on contributions during maternity, family leave, sick leave and other unpaid leave on the Unpaid Leave page in the section for DB members. The contribution rates are different but the principles are the same.

In addition OSPS provides for death in service and incapacity:

  • If you die in service before Normal Pension Age:

A lump sum made up of the funds in Investment Builder plus 3 times your pensionable salary the prospective employer contributions (based on your contributions rate) up to normal retirement date. A dependent will also get three months' salary.

You can nominate who you would like to receive this lump sum using form NOM1. The beneficiaries of the lump sum will be at the discretion of the trustees.

  • An ill-health benefit if you are too ill to work:

If you qualify for an ill-health benefit you would get as a lump sum a return of your funds and also prospective employer contributions up to normal pension age based on your contribution rate.

If you leave Investment Builder because you either leave your employer or you withdraw from membership after the initial deadline you will have money invested in the scheme.

You can have two options regarding this money:

  • you can leave it invested in Investment Builder until you are old enough to claim it; or
  • you can transfer it to another registered pension scheme.

To do either of these things you will need to contact Legal and General rather than the Pensions Office.

You cannot have a refund of contributions.

Leaving Statement

You will receive a leaving statement from Legal and General shortly after they have been told you have left. This will go to your home address or possibly your email address if it is known.

Manage Your Account

Please make sure you keep your personal details up to date using Manange Your Account. For example, you need to update your address if you move.

You can continue to monitor your fund value and change your investment options using Manage Your Account.

If you would like to transfer your benefits out of Investment Builder you or your new scheme will need to contact Legal and General and not the Pensions Office.

You have to leave the scheme before you can transfer your benefits out.

The OSPS plans to make a number of options available to members when they retire or draw their benefits. These include taking the entire fund saved as cash (subject to tax limits), buying an annuity with a third party or drawing down benefits via a third party. 

Please note that under scheme rules members have to leave employment before they can claim their pension benefits. The only exceptions are when members reach age 75 and have to leave the scheme or when they take part of their benefits under flexible retirement.

Legal and General send all members a maturity pack 4 months away from the normal retirement date recorded for them on their accounts. However, this does not mean that members can claim benefits automatically at this date because it is necessary under scheme rules for members to leave employment first, as stated above.

Active members who wish to leave employment and claim their benefits should tell their employer that they wish to retire. The employer should then send the Pensions Office the Advanced Notification of Retirement form. The Pensions Office will then inform Legal and General who will contact the member about their options. Benefits cannot be paid out until the Pensions Office has paid over the final contributions to Legal and General and told them that the member has left. This means that benefits are unlikely to be paid out until the second week of the month following the month of retirement at the earliest.

Past members should contact Legal and General and not the Pensions Office.

Benefit statements will be sent out by Legal and General each April or May. They will go to members' email addresses (if known) or home addresses.

OSPS is a qualifying scheme for automatic enrolment purposes.

Employees whose employers use OSPS for auto-enrolment or re-enrolment will be enrolled into the scheme in the same way as new employees if they meet the government criteria for enrolment.

 

The Trust Deed and Rules of OSPS take precedence over anything said on this page.

pensions l and g osps logo

Investment Builder

Register for first time or opt out from start

LOG IN

Update details, fund choices and check fund values

MANAGE YOUR ACCOUNT

 

Useful links

Legal and General

Workplace DC Pensions, Legal and General Investment Management, Brunel House, 2 Fitzalan Road, Cardiff CF24 0EB

employerdedicatedteam@landg.com

Tel: (0345) 070 8686

Contact Us

 : Pensions Office
       University of Oxford

       c/o Oxford University Press
       Great Clarendon Street
       Oxford OX2 6DP

 : OSPS - osps@admin.ox.ac.uk
 : (01865) 616020