Pension Administration Review

as pension administrators, In our day to day work we must carry our normal administration duties such as updating records, communicating with members and handling cash for our clients. we also must calculate benefits available to members, ensure all safety procedures are kept (ensuring members benefits are safe at all time) and liaise with trustees, actuaries, investment managers and many others involved in running a pension scheme to ensure the pension scheme is ran appropriately.

I have learned many new skills from taking this apprenticeship such as certain mathematical skills which have a practical means. I have also developed many existing skills such as IT skills where I am using a spreadsheet for calculations or formatting documents to look appropriate, communication skills where I am developing the knowledge of which medium/format is best to communicate appropriately with each person.

The apprenticeship was a struggle to get through with COVID showing up midway through the program, Barnett Waddingham had worked extremely hard to ensure that their staff were not missing out on anything by being outside of the office, they considered every training around this virus ensuring that all training is purposeful and fun.

The companies structure for the program was very good with their knowledge of ensuring my learning was at the highest level it could be. It was all well organised and every piece of training we had was relevant and we could see the practical reasoning behind the training. we had also certain training types from different department to explain the administrators importance

I had received lots of support from my employer, they would always ensure that I had enough support to be getting on with every aspect of the apprenticeship. The employer had also held consistent "catch up sessions" to ensure if the level of support needs to change it will as and when necessary.

I had received fairly minimal support from my training provider when working through these qualifications. Throughout the apprenticeship we had various members of the apprenticeship program being told one thing and others told the completely opposite. This led to many problems when nearing the end of the program as the process needed to become homogenous for all parties- we had to amend most of our coursework at the last minute to ensure it is completed to the correct standard after being told the wrong process to start with.

Upon passing the apprenticeship program I felt that the qualifications were useful in understanding the wider aspect of pensions and why certain processes are used. I feel that the qualifications on this apprenticeship have helped me in performing better in my role, the qualifications have also helped with any communication we must use to ensure we know what we are talking about to members/ clients

there are many extra- curricular activities to get involved in at Barnett Waddingham, they offer many different activities tailored for many people. During the various lockdowns in 2020 we had many events to get to know fellow colleagues in BW, for example a occasional quiz night and "coffee Morning" catch ups.

Yes

Barnett Waddingham is a company that prides itself on treating everyone in the best possible manor. Barnett Waddingham runs many schemes to try and ensure many newly qualified candidates are given an equal opportunity to learn. Barnett Waddingham has also ensured that their is always a high level of support for any job specification.

in the pension administration department we do much more than what a administrator may do = Pension administrators will never have the same type of day twice, therefore if you like variation in your work we will provide this. Overall I firmly believe that Barnett Waddingham is a great company to work for with their support they provide