The AECOM Pension Scheme

There are currently two ways of joining the scheme. Electing to join through the MyFlex system, or being auto-enrolled if you meet the age and earnings related criteria and do not elect to join the scheme.

From the 1st November 2023, the default contributions to the scheme consist of an employee contribution of 4% and AECOM contributing 6%. They will also be made via salary sacrifice (rather than the relief at source method).

Pension contributions made by salary sacrifice are made before tax is paid so there is no need to reclaim any higher or additional rate tax. You will also save your National Insurance Contributions on the amount you sacrifice, helping to lower the net cost to you.

You can choose to pay via salary sacrifice straight away through MyFlex and/or vary your contributions at any time (with your choice becoming effective from the 1st of the next month).

To learn more please attend one of the monthly webinars.

You will receive access to the MyFlex System via email within the first week of your employment. Once you have these details you will be able to sign up and join.

Salary sacrifice (also referred to as salary exchange) is a process by which your salary is sacrificed in return for a non-salary benefit – something that is not salary. This means that, unlike the ‘traditional’ relief at source pension contribution method, you do not pay tax or National Insurance on the income that you then use to pay for the benefit.

For more information on salary sacrifice, please see the handy guide that AECOM have published.

Key to understanding salary sacrifice is to understand the difference between your Gross pay and your Net income. Gross pay is your salary while Net income is what you take home at the end of the month – and we all know there is a big difference between those two numbers.

Let’s make the numbers easy and look at an example. In this example we are ignoring your tax allowance and assuming the income we are talking about is taxable.

As a Basic Rate Tax payer, you earn £100 of Gross pay. From this we need to take away 20% Income Tax. We will also need to take off the 8% of National Insurance contributions (NI) that you pay.

So, from the £100 we need to deduct £20 tax and £8 NI. This means that while you were paid £100 you end up with £72 in your bank.

As a result, if you do not earn that £100 and instead it was sacrificed or exchanged, for a pension contribution paid by your employer, you will have £100 paid into your pension but have only missed out on £72 from your bank account.

Things get a little more complicated for Higher Rate Tax payers because of different NI rates (currently 2%). Higher Rate Tax payers also benefit from Salary Sacrifice by not having to reclaim your Higher Rate Tax relief on pension contributions – and if you have not been doing that, you really should!

Please note all tax rates correct as of April 2026.

Auto-enrolment only applies for those who have not already elected to join the scheme through MyFlex. In line with their automatic enrolment duties, AECOM will automatically enrol all new eligible employees into the pension scheme.

If you are over the age of 22, under your own personal State Retirement Age, and earn more than £10,000 per annum, you meet the criteria for auto-enrolment. This is almost everyone who works at AECOM.

If you do not elect to join the scheme through MyFlex, the company will assess you and if you meet the criteria, will place you in the plan. You can opt-out, but only after you have been put in.

Your pension is a valuable benefit and you should carefully consider either opting out of the plan or allowing yourself to be auto-enrolled with lower contributions. Please attend one of our regular webinars to learn more.

The default fund is the Scottish Widows Balanced Pension Approach and your first months premiums will be initially invested into this fund, as will subsequent monthly payments unless you switch funds.

The fund is part of the Scottish Widows Investment Approach which is a strategic lifestyle fund range and is designed for customers investing for retirement.

Lifestyling means that your fund will change over time – reducing in volatility as you approach retirement. Volatility is how much and how often your fund goes up and down. The general idea is that you want to reduce volatility as you approach retirement, so this process starts 15 years before the retirement age on your pension. This is 65 as standard, but you can change it should you wish.

The fund starts off investing largely in stocks and shares meaning good potential for long term growth but with greater volatility. As you approach retirement, the fund starts to invest in less volatile areas such as Government Gilts and Corporate Bonds.

5 years from the retirement age on your pension, you will be given a choice as to how the fund works to reflect the different choices you have at retirement.

Whilst suitable for a large number of employees, the default fund may not be suitable for you, so in addition to the default fund, there are many other options.

There are funds with different risk ratings – from low risk funds which usually provide lower growth in exchange for less volatility, to high risk funds which will usually invest entirely in stocks and shares meaning potential for very high growth but also very sharp losses.

There are also internal and external funds – those managed by Scottish Widows internally or those managed externally by investment houses. There can be different charges for different funds, so be careful to read the relevant information on the Scottish Widows microsite.

There are also active and passive funds – this is nothing to do with risk and is rather to do with how the fund makes decisions. A passive fund follows a market or a list of investments. This is why they are often known as index or tracker funds – they passively follow something. Active funds make decisions for themselves – they decide what to do rather than following. But they can get decisions right or wrong meaning that active funds will sometimes be better than passive funds and sometimes worse. It is very common for active funds to have higher charges than passive funds so you will want to check carefully.

To learn more about how the default fund works, please contact us, head to the Scottish Widows microsite or attend one of our webinars.

All pension schemes in the UK have management charges of some sort or another. The AECOM pension scheme has an annual management charge of just 0.16% of the fund value. This is calculated by Scottish Widows and deducted from the pension fund accordingly. This charge includes the default fund and access to a core range of investment funds. Other external funds (non core funds) are also available although these may carry an additional charge.

• Where Can I find out more information

here is lots more information on your plan at the dedicated AECOM microsite from Scottish Widows.

• What is a Group Personal Pension Plan?

It is a personal pension designed to provide you with a fund to use during your retirement. You can also take some of the fund back tax-free.

You have lots of options as to how to use it and you do not need to take your income from Scottish Widows.

It is not a final salary scheme. At retirement you can draw an income and you can also take part of the plan as tax-free cash. The option to purchase an annuity may also be preferred by some.

•  How much can I pay into my pension each year?

This depends on your personal circumstances so please contact us for more information. However, unless you are a very high earner – earning in excess of £200,000 a year – it is more likely that how much you can pay in will be limited by what you can afford rather than what you are allowed to pay in.

•  Can I change my mind or cancel the plan?

Yes – you can cancel the policy within 30 days of the plan starting. If you have been auto-enrolled you have one month to opt out. You will be provided with details of how to opt-out by Scottish Widows.

•  Can I change how much I pay in?

You can change the amount you pay into the scheme at any time during the year via the MyFlex system.

•  Can I transfer in other pension plans?

You can transfer many types of pension into this plan – but just because you can, doesn’t mean you should! Scottish Widows provide a non-advised transfer service allowing you to transfer funds into you AECOM plan. There is no charge for their service, but there is also no advice.

Transferring a pension is not something to be taken lightly, so please consider carefully any decisions you make. If you would like to discuss pension transfers with TISCO we can offer initial conversations free of charge as part of your AECOM service or fully advised transfer recommendations for a fee – please contact us. We are sure you would find an initial conversation useful.

• Can I transfer this plan to another provider?

There is no charge on the plan for transferring this scheme to another provider. There may be advisory or administration charges, but that will depend on how you undertake any transfer and to whom the transfer is made. Speak to your financial adviser about whether this is appropriate for you.

•  When can I take my pension benefits, and what can I take?

Your plan allows you to take your benefits including your tax free cash anytime from a minimum retirement age. This age depends on your age but it will be at least 55 (increasing to age 57 from 6 April 2028).

You will have a number of options available to you, details of which are covered in the free pre-retirement webinars. You can also take advantage of the free Annuity service provided for the Scottish Widows pension. You may also wish to consider taking independent financial advice around the options available. This can be from your own financial adviser or through a TISCO adviser. Please note that AECOM do not pay for individual advice and we would agree our service and any charges with you prior to commencing work.

•  What will I get back from my plan when I take benefits?

This will depend on many factors – your age, your health, interest rates and how you take your income, for example. The biggest factor will be your final plan value which will be determined by the level of contributions you make and where your funds are invested.

• What happens if I die before I take my benefits?

If you die before you take your benefits, the full value of the plan (the value of the fund, not what you have paid in, and this may be more or less than the contributions you have made) will be paid out to your beneficiary. You should inform Scottish Widows who you want that to be and can get a form to do that from their microsite. However, under some circumstances they may not pay the money to who you have named on that form – this is a positive rather than a negative and provides you with protection in a number of ways. You should still complete the form, but if you want to learn more about this, please contact TISCO.

• What happens if I leave the company?

If you leave AECOM, the plan detaches from the group and goes with you, you have a number of options:

1. Stop paying in contributions to the scheme.
2. Set up a personal contribution, or ask your new employer to pay in.
3. Transfer your plan to another provider.

• How can I see how much my plan is worth?

You will receive a statement each year that shows you what your plan is worth, what’s been paid in and where your money is invested. It is important to review your plan regularly to ensure it is on track to provide the benefits you hope for.

You can also view your plan online in a number of different ways summarised in our Client Log In section, and your information pack will contain details of how to access your plan online.