With an ITC pension, the security benefits are:

Your pension assets are held in trust on your behalf through a self-administered scheme. This means that they are completely segregated from our assets, other clients' assets and your company/employer’s assets. This differs from insurance companies, which hold pension assets on their balance sheet.

If your company fails, your self-administered scheme is secure from claims by creditors.

With an ITC pension, the cost benefits are:

You will be provided with details of the set-up costs before you make any decision. The ongoing cost of your self-administered scheme is fully transparent and depends on your investment strategy which you control.

You have online access to the operating bank account. This allows you to track the movement of monies in real time.

You receive annual accounts (or annual/bi-annual statement where appropriate) on all income and expenditure of your self-administered schemes to allow you to keep track of your funds. ITC self-administered schemes compare favourably with the pensions of an insurance company, which is likely to issue an annual statement showing the value of the units you hold in their funds.

With an ITC pension, the control benefits are:

As co-trustee of your self-administered pension, you have control over investment and funding decisions. Your signature is required to authorise any movement of funds.

You do not have to delegate the responsibility to an insurance company Fund Manager who may consider you one amongst many policyholders. You create a personal investment plan that fits your appetite for risk, your budget and your retirement target.

Your investment choices can be sourced from a wide variety of Irish and international investment providers. For example, you can invest in lower-risk investments such as cash or government stocks, or in higher-risk investments such as mezzanine finance and private equities. You can do this on your own or with a Financial Advisor.

You control when to start and stop or increase and decrease contributions to suit your circumstances, rather than according to the terms of an insurance company contract.

With an ITC pension, the transparency benefits are:

Your needs and circumstances shape the investment strategy and the level and timing of contributions. For example, if your salary has been cut you can reduce or stop the contributions to your ITC self-administered scheme at no charge.

Your self-administered scheme is portable, which means you can continue to use it even if you change employer. Unlike an insurance company pension scheme, you will not be required to cash in all investments so it can be moved to your new employer’s scheme.

You have the flexibility to plan how your eventual retirement benefits are taken, to suit your circumstances.