Welcome!
On 1 July 2023, active members in the DB Section joined the DC Section of the Roche Pension Fund and became known as ‘employed deferred DB members’. You still have a right to benefits from the DB Section, which you can read about here. In this area of our website, you can find out how the DC Section works and see how the Fund supports you at different times in your life. Roche pays a generous contribution that’s worth almost three times what you pay in – find out more here. Or just use the menu to explore the DC Section in more detail.
- When you joined the DC Section on 1 July 2023, we opened a pension account in your name.
- Contributions from you and Roche are paid into your account and are invested. You can keep track of how much is in your account by registering for PlanViewer, a secure member website run by the DC Section’s administrator, Fidelity International. You can easily access PlanViewer through My Total Roche.
- The value of your account when you retire depends on how much is paid in as contributions and how your money is invested.
- When you reach retirement age, you have flexibility to decide how and when to use the money you’ve built up in your account (and you may also have a pension waiting for you in the DB Section).
You may have heard that all UK businesses are required to enrol ‘eligible employees’ into a workplace pension and that there is a minimum level of contributions required into that scheme. This is known as auto-enrolment (AE).
Roche uses the DC Section to meet its AE obligations.
If you stop paying contributions into the DC Section in future but remain a Roche employee, we may be required to enrol you back into the Fund. This re-enrolment exercise usually takes place around every three years and the next one is scheduled for 2025. As long as you remain employed by Roche, we’ll put you back in the Fund on the terms that were agreed for enhanced deferred DB members. However, if you leave Roche and then re-join the Company in future, you’ll be enrolled on the standard terms.
If you stop working for Roche, or opt out of the Fund, you’ll receive a letter from the administrator, Fidelity International, setting out your options for your pension account.
These include:
- leaving your account invested in the Fund until you’re ready to take it; or
- transferring all or some of your account to another registered pension scheme (such as your new employer’s scheme).
If you leave your account in the Fund, you’ll still be able to manage your investments through PlanViewer, but you won’t be able to pay any more money into your account. This factsheet has more information about your options on leaving.
Transfers and scams
You can transfer some or all of your pension account out of the Fund at any time after you’ve left, up to one year before your normal retirement age (65). If you want to do this, please contact Fidelity International.
However, please be alert to the risk of pension scams when transferring money out of the Fund. Scammers might claim they can help you access your money before the age of 50, or they might promise you very high ‘guaranteed’ investment returns.
To help protect pension savers, the Pensions Regulator has introduced a new step in the transfer process, whereby Fidelity International must offer to book a scams guidance appointment for you with Pension Wise, a Government service run by MoneyHelper. These appointments can take place over the phone or in person. If you don’t want to take the free guidance, you just need to let Fidelity International know that you wish to ‘opt out’ of your Pension Wise appointment.
Find out more on how to avoid a pension scam here.
If you’re temporarily absent from work because of ill health, you’ll remain a member of the DC Section and continue to pay contributions (at the Company’s discretion). In some cases of unpaid temporary absence, your contributions will stop but, with the Company’s consent, you may be able to repay any missing contributions into your pension account when you return to work.
Subject to the Trustee’s discretion, you may be able to take the money in your pension account earlier than the minimum retirement age*. In this case, if you still work for Roche in the UK, you should raise a ticket in the People Portal and you will be guided through the process. If you have left the Company, please contact Fidelity on 0800 3 68 68 68 in respect of your DC benefits.
The Company provides a separate Group Income Protection scheme, which provides a monthly income to employees who become seriously ill, subject to certain conditions. You can find out more in the DC Section member booklet.
* The minimum retirement age for most members is 55, rising to 57 from 6 April 2028; this is set by the Government as the earliest age most pension savers can take their retirement benefits. However, as an employed deferred DB member, you have a protected early retirement age of 50. This means you can take your Fund benefits from age 50, subject to meeting certain conditions.
The Fund provides a lump sum payment as well as pensions for your loved ones if you die in service (i.e., while working for Roche).
The death-in-service lump sum for employed deferred DB members is worth 6x your basic contribution salary. This will reduce to 4x if you opt out of the Fund, even if you re-join later.
The Fund also provides a dependant’s pension to your spouse or civil partner, and children’s pensions, should you die in service. You can find out how this pension is calculated in the DC Section member booklet.
Trustee discretion
The Trustee has discretion to decide who will receive any cash sums and pensions payable from the Fund. They’re not bound by your wishes but will take them into account. It’s important to complete an Expression of wish form or Nomination form – and keep them up to date as your personal circumstances change. These forms, which are available online through My Total Roche and PlanViewer, tell the Trustee who you would like to receive any benefits from the Fund in the event of your death. You don’t have to complete these forms, as the Trustee will complete its own investigations, but having them makes your thoughts and situations clearer, so we recommend that you do fill them out.
You can find out more about the benefits payable on death in the DC Section member booklet.
Restrictions on tax-free death benefits
The Lump Sum and Death Benefit Allowance (LSDBA) restricts the amount of lump sum death benefits that can be paid tax free from all registered pension schemes to £1,073,100 (unless you have LTA protection, in which case a higher limit may apply).
Fidelity International hosts regular webinars, open to all Roche Pension Fund members, that are designed to help you plan for the future and become more financially resilient.
The webinars cover a range of topics, tailored to different age groups and levels of financial understanding.
Whether you’re on the road to retirement, or just starting to save, they’re a great way to learn more about how your pension works.
Here’s what’s coming up in early 2025. Simply click on the links to book your place. (Please note, you will be directed to an external website.)
The full list of 2025’s webinars, and recordings of previous sessions, are available on Fidelity’s website.
Manage your account
PlanViewer is a secure website for members of the DC Section, where you can view your own personal pension details and make changes.
- Check how much money is in your pension account.
- Find out where your account is invested and make changes if you want.
- Change your retirement age.
- Update your Expression of wish online, should the worst happen.
- Use PlanViewer’s retirement planning tools to explore your options.
Before you can start using PlanViewer, you need to register using the login details that Fidelity sent when you joined. If you need help, contact Fidelity.