Aon: Ensuring the adequacy of future pensions is a crucial challenge for the pension system

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Pension education for employees, tools and formats for companies designed to ensure regulatory compliance, analysis and planning with individual check-ups and company assessments. These are some of the solutions offered by Aon, a company specialising in insurance brokerage and consultancy for risk management and human capital management, to support companies and workers in the changes introduced by the 2026 Budget Law regarding supplementary pensions. From 1 July, a series of new measures will come into force aimed at strengthening the role of pension funds as a fundamental supplementary element of the public pension system, thus marking a significant transformation for both parties involved. For companies, this entails increased responsibility in terms of reporting, management and process control, whilst for employees it broadens the freedom of choice regarding pension plans, though this also leads to greater complexity in decision-making. “The real challenge for pensions in the coming years will not only be the financial sustainability of the system, but the adequacy of future pensions,” explains Claudio Pinna, Head of Wealth at Aon. “Without strengthening supplementary pensions and without tools that involve employers and employees more closely, there is a risk that pensions will become increasingly out of step with final income levels.”

There are four main changes introduced by the Budget Law: automatic enrolment of newly recruited workers in supplementary pension schemes, with the option to opt out or choose a different scheme within 60 days of the date of first employment; an obligation on the employer to provide information on the applicable supplementary pension arrangements at the time of recruitment; greater freedom to transfer the employer’s contributions to other pension funds after two years’ membership of the contractual fund; new types of benefits provided by pension funds from which to choose (fixed-term annuities, flexible withdrawals, instalment payments, and an increase in the proportion of the benefit that can be claimed as a lump sum up to 60 per cent).

This means – as Aon points out – that companies will be formally obliged to provide detailed information to employees and to manage documentation correctly, whilst meeting the deadlines relating to supplementary pension schemes, with the risk of incurring penalties in the event of non-compliance. To this end, organisations can be supported through tools and templates designed to ensure regulatory compliance and fulfil their obligations in a clear and traceable manner. At an operational level, greater administrative complexity is also anticipated, with a fragmentation of contribution flows and the need for closer coordination between HR and payroll departments and external advisers. To help employees understand their options and make more informed choices, Aon is instead focusing on pension education through workshops, multi-channel content and Q&A sessions. ‘If not properly informed, there is a risk that employees will make uninformed pension decisions, with potential repercussions on their financial well-being and the workplace atmosphere,’ emphasises the insurance and reinsurance brokerage group, which believes that action can be taken through analysis and planning via individual check-ups and company-wide assessments to identify potential risks and improve pension policies, tailoring them to the specific needs of each organisation.