elements - UK Pensions : BASF SE - BASF

Welcome
Welcome to the Winter edition of
Elements, the newsletter for the BASF
UK Group Pension Scheme. The aim is
to bring you information about what’s
happening in your pension scheme and
in the wider world of pensions.
We include a summary of the latest
Report & Accounts for the year ended
31 December 2010, which showed an
increase in the DB fund value of around
£21.5 million, including £5.4 million that
came from the Sorex Plan.
However, a fuller picture of the Scheme’s
finances is given on pages 4 and 5, with
the results of the latest full actuarial
valuation as at 31 December 2009 and an
update of the position at 31 December
2010. In the first seven months of 2011 the
deficit fluctuated quite wildly due to the
volatile market conditions, increasing to
£54 million by the end of August 2011.
Changes to the Scheme
Following the end of the consultation process on 13 May 2011 and after considering all
the feedback received, the Company has set out its plans for the closure of the DB
section for future service benefits and the revised DC section, which will come into effect
on 1 April 2012. All affected members have received a booklet giving an overview of the
changes. A copy is also available on the pension website. Please note that pensioners
and deferred members are NOT affected in any way by these changes.
A series of workshops for current employees will be taking place in the six months from
October 2011 to March 2012, covering the revised DC section and the benefits it
provides. It is important that you attend these workshops to fully understand how the
changes will affect you. The first wave of workshops have now been completed
with Workshop 2 starting in January 2012.
2
The name of our Scheme administrators
has changed from AEGON Trustee
Solutions back to HS Admin. You can read
more about this on page 7 and their
contact details are also on the back cover
if you have any questions about your
own benefits.
There’s quite a lot happening in terms of
Government action on pensions, so we’ve
included a summary of the latest
developments on pages 8 to 10.
I hope you find Elements informative and
interesting. If you have any questions about
the contents, please get in touch with the
Pension Department – contact details are
on the back cover.
Pam Taylor
UK & Ireland Group Pension Manager