Dear Sir/Madam,
The RESAVER Consortium was set up on 1 October 2014 to create a single European pension arrangement for research institutions as of 2015. The aim of the consortium is to create a tailor-made scheme that will assist employers to attract researchers in an increasingly competitive environment. This cross-border pension arrangement will remove pensions as a barrier to researchers’ mobility and as a result contribute to the establishment of a genuine European labour market for research professionals.
In light of recent progress, we would like to invite your organisation to participate in the RESAVER consortium. Being a member will help you stay informed about developments and will greatly facilitate future enrolment of your organisation in the pension scheme.
RESAVER – Retirement Savings Vehicle for European Research Institutions
RESAVER will be a state of the art retirement savings product that will enable mobile and non-mobile employees to remain affiliated to the same pension vehicle when moving between different countries and changing jobs. By participating in RESAVER, employers will be able to sponsor a single European pension arrangement capable of delivering:
- Cross-border pooling of pension plans;
- Continuity of the accumulation of pension benefits as professionals move between different organisations and countries during their career;
- Lower overhead costs (and therefore improving member benefits) through economies of scale;
- Access to high quality investments independent of the country where the employee is based (where legally possible), and therefore improving overall member benefits;
- A pan-European risk pooling solution covering death benefits.
The end result will be a highly dynamic retirement savings product that corresponds to the specific needs of both research institutions and their employees.
The initiative was singled out as a priority by the European Commission in the 2012 ERA Communication. The European Commission has therefore decided to provide € 4 million in technical support through Horizon 2020 for the creation of the cross-border pension scheme.
More information regarding the scheme design can be found here.
The RESAVER Consortium
The closed pension arrangement will be governed by the RESAVER consortium, which is an international not-for-profit association registered in Belgium. The founding members are: Central European University Budapest, CERIC-ERIC, Elettra - Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Technical University of Vienna and Association of Universities in the Netherlands.
The consortium is managed through the General Assembly which appoints the board of directors. As the executive body of the association, the Board of Directors will lead the implementation of the pension scheme.
Specific committees will also be set up in each country to undertake the technical preparations necessary to enrol institutions in a country by country approach.
Benefits of consortium membership
Access to the cross-border pooling of pension plans is a key incentive for joining the consortium. There are also many other benefits of consortium membership and these are listed below:
· Participation in the development of three uniquely designed pension vehicles; a tailor-made IORP managing 2nd pillar occupational pension plans, a complementary 2nd pillar pan-European network of country-specific insurance arrangements, a 3rd pillar insurance solution.
· Single European administration of supplementary pensions and insurances.
· Involvement in detailed reviews and decisions regarding the benefit design on both a national and European level.
· Access to a shared communication platform for sponsoring undertakings and participants.
· Access to European-wide risk pooling solutions.
· Centralised asset management providing with a full range of attractive high quality investments.
· Opportunities for wider cost-sharing in occupational pension and insurance coverage.
· Invitations to all events organised by the consortium including General Assemblies, mutual learning seminars, workshops and country committee meetings.
· Technical support from industry-leading experts in the field of supplementary pensions.
Joining the consortium
Should you be interested in joining the RESAVER consortium, please fill in the enclosed application form and return it to: resaver@aonhewitt.com
Requests for membership should include a statement confirming that the applicant undertakes to comply with the by-laws and internal regulations of the Association, in addition to a copy of the by-laws and information on the background of the applicant or an extract of the certificate or equivalent document from a national public authority providing information on the legal status and legal representative of the applicant.
The Board of Directors will transmit the application to the General Assembly together with a recommendation as to whether or not the applicant should be admitted as a member.
To become a member of the RESAVER Consortium you will be required to pay an annual membership fee. This represents an advance deposit that will cover your share of the general management and administrative costs for the running of the consortium. However, no membership fee will apply before the plan becomes operational in 2016.
All new members will be invited to attend a one day information seminar in Brussels during the first half of 2015. The seminar will be co-organised by the European Commission and the RESAVER Consortium. During the seminar you will learn about the finer details of RESAVER, including future actions and details of how your organisation can participate in the roll-out of RESAVER.
The RESAVER consortium encourages wide membership and active participation in the consortium. Consequently, all research affiliated organisations within the European Economic Area are invited to join the consortium.
To learn more about the Consortium or the pension arrangement please visit our website: http://resaver.euraxess.org, or contact our secretariat:
Email: resaver@aonhewitt.com
Telephone: +44 2070 869 126 / +32 2 730 99 11
Yours sincerely,
Paul Jankowitsch (Chair) - Technical University of Vienna
Ileana Gimmillaro (Secretary) - CERIC-ERIC
Andrea Crivelli - Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste
Roberto Viola - Fondazione Edmund Mach
Marco Monga - Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia
Gabriella Kemeny - Central European University of Budapest
Johan Huysse - Association of Universities in the Netherlands
Find here RESAVER - Application Form and RESAVER BYLAWS CONSTITUTION