WMPF portal drives 19% increase in web engagement

Schemes are making more use of online communication in order to engage members more regularly and reduce the cost of print communication.

One in fifty members (2 per cent) of the local authority scheme signed up to the portal in the first six months, with more than 200 employer users from 70 individual employers also using the service on a regular basis.

The number of visits to the scheme's website jumped to 32,704 in the year ended March 31 2013 from 27,531 in 2012 – an increase of 18.8 per cent – the fund's 2013 annual report stated. 

The portal has created financial savings by replacing paper payslips with electronic ones. WMPF also aimed to increase efficiency by allowing members to complete tasks online rather than submitting paper requests to be dealt with by fund staff, said Antony Ellis, communications officer at the scheme. 

"West Midlands Pension Fund views the web portal as an integral element of its communications strategy," he said. 

Embracing online strategies

Schemes looking to follow this example should consider online communications as one branch of a wider, integrated strategy, said Karen Heath, chief engagement officer at communications company AHC.

“It’s about supplementing the existing communications, not replacing them,” she said. “It needs to be a well thought through mix.”

Heath also emphasised the unique values of paper communications, as often members prefer having paper copies of benefit statements and other important information that can easily be filed and referred to. 

Receiving a physical paper statement can also serve as a useful “memory trigger”, she said, making clients aware of developments without needing to log on and check for themselves.

WMPF's implementation of the portal is a sign of a growing trend towards defined benefit schemes adopting online communications strategies.

Geraldine Brassett, client relationship manager at consultancy Aon Hewitt, said: “For DB there was a school of thought that online [platforms] didn’t help, but we’re finding they are increasingly valued, especially where people can see their payslips.”

The main stumbling blocks for online strategies are typically in the implementation phase, as member data and calculations tools must be correct.

Brassett said schemes could keep promoting the site on paper and in face-to-face communications to make it part of the culture of the scheme, benefitting both admin and members. 

Approaches to online strategies are still evolving, but she said changing disclosure regulations will facilitate the growth of such strategies as schemes can rely more heavily on online methods to communicate with their members.

WMPF is currently reviewing the portal’s content and functionality ahead of changes to the Local Government Pension Scheme, which will come into effect in April.