adesso Blog

Pensions are important for every employee. They have the right to request from their employer that part of their future earnings – up to four per cent of the contribution ceiling for the statutory pension fund – are paid into their company pension scheme through the conversion of earnings into pension contributions (deferred compensation). This is an important measure to protect workers from old-age poverty. But everything has now changed due to COVID-19. To reflect the new reality, the 2022 contribution ceiling is set to be reduced under the draft bill from the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales, BMAS). How and to what extent are company pension schemes affected by this change? What challenges does this pose for companies, employees, insurance companies and pension providers? And how can these be overcome? You can find answers to these questions in the following blog post.

The company pension scheme is promoted by the German Act to Strengthen Occupational Pensions (Betriebsrentenstärkungsgesetz, BRSG) of 2018. Employers are obliged to support their employees in building up a pension by making a contribution towards their deferred compensation. Previously, this contribution was only obligatory for new policies dated 1 January 2019 or later. As of 1 January 2022, employers will be obliged to pay this subsidy for all existing pension scheme policies. What challenges do insurance companies and pension providers have to face? And how can these be overcome? I’ll explain how in this blog post.

The penetration rate of company pension schemes in Germany has decreased once again. Despite all of the recommendations and numerous incentives, such as those provided in the German Act to Strengthen Occupational Pensions (Betriebsrentenstärkungsgesetz, BRSG), it doesn’t look anything is about to buck this trend. How can we make company pension schemes more attractive without increasing the administrative burden on employers, excluding pension providers and reducing transparency into the wide range of company pension scheme options even further? As the title of this blog post suggests, a standard product is the method of choice for increasing the uptake of company pension schemes and thus the level of retirement security for today’s workers.

The BRSG has created new opportunities for pension insurance providers to generate added sales and provided incentives for employers and consumers alike. In spite of this all, the BRSG has failed to deliver the desired results or gain broad traction. In my blog post, I will examine the situation as it currently stands and explain the causes underlying this.

The new BiPRO company pension scheme standard with RNext enables standardised change notifications to be sent digitally to the insurance company via the RNext interface. This allows portfolio processes to be optimised, the quality of data to be increased and the customer experience to be enhanced. In my blog post, I will introduce you to the new BiPRO company pension scheme standard with RNext in greater detail.