How we won the WSB Awards 2024... Fidelity International

What does it mean to win this award?

We are delighted to win the Pension Provider of the Year award as well as the Benefit Communication Initiative of the Year accolade.

This demonstrates our commitment to supporting clients and pension scheme members, enhancing our proposition in terms of default investment improvements, ease of doing business and recognising our responsibility to fulfil these needs in a sustainable way. This award recognises the hard work across the teams within Fidelity, both in the UK and globally, who are helping to enhance our position as a leading player in the UK workplace savings marketplace.

What do you believe sets you apart from your peers?

FutureWise, our default investment strategy for workplace pensions, has delivered strong returns against our peers and has also delivered on reducing our carbon footprint in line with our long-term business targets.

In addition to this, our relationship directors and servicing teams provide easy access to support our clients in meeting the regulatory demands facing pension schemes. Our Workplace Workout programme encourages members to engage and be more confident in taking responsibility for their retirement planning. This programme began five years ago with 8,000 members and we now support 317,000 members.

What are the key challenges facing your clients and how are you helping to address them?

Delivering positive member outcomes is a shared objective for us and our clients. A strong default investment is a core part of any workplace pension, as most investors choose to remain in the default. We are really pleased with the initial results of changing FutureWise to a Target Date Fund strategy, delivering strong returns for members saving towards and in retirement. This success has also attracted many new pension schemes to choose FutureWise.

Supporting financial wellness of employees is of increasing importance, in the face of cost-of-living pressures, and we provide tips and tools to help provide comfort and reassurance. We have expanded our range of services, introducing Invest @Work that provides employees with access to a range of accounts from Fidelity Personal Investing (including ISA, LISA & Investment Accounts) with a discount on the usual service fee.

We are an inclusive organisation, and our vulnerable customers programme continues to win accolades within the industry, most recently the BSI kitemark.

How will you continue to improve your services to clients over the coming 12 months?

We are always looking for ways to improve member outcomes. In 2025, we are looking to integrate private assets into FutureWise to provide members who are far from retirement with increased diversification and the potential for higher returns.

Pension schemes continue to face regulatory pressures, none more so than the oncoming Pensions Dashboards Programme. We have supported trustees of own trust schemes with a trustee readiness guide so that we can help them to meet their regulatory responsibilities.

Our commitment to delivering for our clients and members never fades. Our thought leadership research on global sentiment, women and money and global employers identifies key themes and trends to help employers retain and attract the best staff. Our range of calculators, webinars and guides help employees to take control and identify the actions needed to get the most from their retirement savings.

In addition to winning the Pension Provider of the Year accolade at the WSB Awards 2024, Fidelity International also won the award for Benefit Communication Initiative of the Year.

The winners of the 12th anniversary Workplace Savings and Benefits Awards were announced at an event held at London's Marriott Grosvenor Square on 5 September. To see the full list of winners and find out more about the awards, visit: wsbawards.co.uk

Read the WSB Awards Winners' Supplement in full here.