Savills plc - Investor relations

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTSyear ended 31 December 20036. Staff & Directors (continued)(d) Directors' interestsInterests in the share capital of the Company beneficially held by members of the Board of Directors or their families at 31 December 2003 are detailed below:31 December 31 DecemberOrdinary shares 2003 2002*Aubrey Adams 270,535 250,000William Concannon - -Jeremy Helsby 206,802 190,628Simon Hope 15,000 55,000Timothy Ingram 12,000 12,000Richard Jewson 20,000 20,000Derek McClain - -Robert McKellar 40,000 40,000Charles McVeigh - -Rupert Sebag-Montefiore 95,786 95,786Fields Wicker-Miurin 680 -David Wong - -* or date of appointment, if later.No members of the Board of Directors or their families held any non-beneficial interests in the share capital of the Company at 31 December 2003 (2002 - nil). Details of Directors' share options are given in theRemuneration Report on pages 32 to 38.At the date of approval of the Accounts, the Company has not been notified of any changes since 31 December 2003 in the interests detailed above.7. Pension scheme(a) The Group operates a pension scheme providing benefits based on final pensionable salary. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the Group, being invested in managed fund units. Thecontributions are determined by an independent qualified actuary on the basis of triennial valuations.The most recent actuarial valuation completed, using the projected unit method, was as at 5 April 2001. The assumptions which have the most significant effect on the results of the valuation are those relating tothe rate of return on investments (7.0%), the rates of increase in salaries (5.0%) and pensions (3.0%) and the assumed dividend yield (2.75%). The valuation showed that the market value of the scheme's assetswas £28,875,648 and that the actuarial value of those assets represented 75% of the benefits that had accrued to members, after allowing for expected future increases in earnings. On 2 January 2001, the Group’scontribution increased from 9% to 13.5%, on 1 October 2001 the Group contributions increased to 15% and on 1 January 2004 the Group contribution increased to 18%. Employee contributions are 5% but witheffect from 1 April 2004 this will increase to 7%. The scheme has been closed to new joiners for pension benefits since 1 April 2000. The total pension charge in respect of the scheme was £3,185,000 (2002 -£2,814,000).The Company also operates the Savills UK Group Personal Pension Plan, a defined contribution scheme, a number of defined contribution individual pension plans and a Mandatory Provident Fund Scheme in HongKong, to which it contributes. The total pension charges in respect of these plans were £2,898,000 (2002- £2,595,000).The total pension charge for the year was £6,083,000 (2002 - £5,409,000).(b) Additional disclosure requirements in accordance with FRS17: The Pension and Life Assurance Plan of Savills is a defined benefit arrangement. The last full funding valuation was carried out as at 5 April 2001.A qualified independent actuary updated the results of that valuation to 31 December 2003 to obtain the figures in this disclosure note.The major assumptions used were:31 December 31 December 31 December2003 2002 2001Rate of increase in salaries 4.25% 3.75% 4.00%Rate of increase to pensions in payment - accrued before 6 April 1997 3.00% 3.00% 3.00%- accrued after 5 April 1997 2.75% 2.25% 2.50%Rate of increase to pensions in deferment - accrued before 6 April 2001 5.00% 5.00% 5.00%- accrued after 5 April 2001 2.75% 2.25% 2.50%Discount rate 5.50% 5.50% 5.75%Inflation assumption 2.75% 2.25% 2.50%52