Pensions administrator

Description

Pensions administrators perform administrative duties in the management of pension schemes, ensuring the correct calculation of client’s pension benefits, compliance with legal requirements, drafting reports and communicating relevant information to customers. They work either in the private or the public sector.

Other titles

The following job titles also refer to pensions administrator:

pension plans clerk
pension administrator
pension agent
pension scheme administrator
pensions technician
investments administrator
administrator of pensions
pensions administration officer
responsible for pensions administrations
pension fund administrator

Minimum qualifications

Associate’s degree is generally required to work as pensions administrator. However, this requirement may differ in some countries.

ISCO skill level

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

  • the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
  • the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
  • the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

Pensions administrator is a Skill level 3 occupation.

Pensions administrator career path

Similar occupations

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to pensions administrator.

financial broker
social security officer
insurance claims handler
stock broker
securities broker

Long term prospects

These occupations require some skills and knowledge of pensions administrator. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of pensions administrator with a significant experience and/or extensive training.

pension scheme manager
bankruptcy trustee
personal trust officer
dividend analyst
middle office analyst

Essential knowledge and skills

Essential knowledge

This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of pensions administrator.

Government social security programmes: The different areas of social security provided by the government, the different rights which citizens have, which benefits are available, the rules which regulate social security and the different situations in which they apply.
Types of pensions: The types of monthly sums paid to someone in retirement, such as employment-based pensions, social and state pensions, disability pensions and private pensions.
Social security law: Legislation concerning the protection of individuals and the provision of aid and benefits, such as health insurance benefits, unemployment benefits, welfare programs and other government-provided social security.
Actuarial science: The rules of applying mathematical and statistical techniques to determine potential or existing risks in various industries, such as finance or insurance.

Essential skills and competences

These skills are necessary for the role of pensions administrator.

Protect client interests: Protect the interests and needs of a client by taking necessary actions, and researching all possibilities, to ensure that the client obtains their favoured outcome.
Ensure information transparency: Ensure that required or requested information is provided clearly and completely, in a manner which does not explicitly withhold information, to the public or requesting parties.
Comply with legal regulations: Ensure you are properly informed of the legal regulations that govern a specific activity and adhere to its rules, policies and laws.
Obtain financial information: Gather information on securities, market conditions, governmental regulations and the financial situation, goals and needs of clients or companies.
Communicate with beneficiaries: Communicate with individuals or organisations who are entitled to receive benefits in the form of funds or other rights in order to obtain information on the procedures, to ensure that beneficiaries receive the benefits they are entitled to, and to provide further information.
Calculate benefits: Calculate the benefits which the people connected to the organisation are entitled to, such as employees or retired people, using the information of the person and the interplay between governmental benefits and benefits obtained through for example employment.
Apply technical communication skills: Explain technical details to non-technical customers, stakeholders, or any other interested parties in a clear and concise manner.
Provide financial product information: Give the customer or client information about financial products, the financial market, insurances, loans or other types of financial data.
Advise on social security benefits: Advise citizens on government-regulated benefits they are eligible for, such as unemployment benefits, family benefits, and other social security benefits.
Use it tools: Application of computers, computer networks and other information technologies and equipment to storing, retrieving, transmitting and manipulating data, in the context of a business or enterprise.

Optional knowledge and skills

Optional knowledge

This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of pensions administrator. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

Corporate social responsibility: The handling or managing of business processes in a responsible and ethical manner considering the economic responsibility towards shareholders as equally important as the responsibility towards environmental and social stakeholders.
Legal research: The methods and procedures of research in legal matters, such as the regulations, and different approaches to analyses and source gathering, and the knowledge on how to adapt the research methodology to a specific case to obtain the required information.

Optional skills and competences

These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of pensions administrator. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

Trace financial transactions: Observe, track and analyse financial transactions made in companies or in banks. Determine the validity of the transaction and check for suspicious or high-risk transactions in order to avoid mismanagement.
Promote social security programmes: Promote government programmes dealing with the provision of aid to individuals in order to gain support for the development and implementation of social security programmes.
Manage pension funds: Manage the sums of money which individuals or organisations pay across a timespan of many years which will ensure they acquire many benefits in retirement. Ensure the amounts paid are correct and that detailed records are kept.
Synthesise financial information: Collect, revise and put together financial information coming from different sources or departments in order to create a document with unified financial accounts or plans.
Maintain records of financial transactions: Collate all the financial transactions done in the daily operations of a business and record them in their respective accounts.
Provide support in financial calculation: Provide colleagues, clients or other parties with financial support for complex files or calculations.
Investigate social security applications: Investigate the eligibility of citizens applying for social security benefits by examining documents, interviewing the citizen, and researching the related legislation.
Manage financial risk: Predict and manage financial risks, and identify procedures to avoid or minimise their impact.
Develop pension schemes: Develop plans which provide retirement benefits to individuals, taking into account the financial risks for the organisation providing the benefits and the potential difficulties of implementation.
Analyse financial risk: Identify and analyse risks that could impact an organisation or individual financially, such as credit and market risks, and propose solutions to cover against those risks.
Handle financial disputes: Handle disputes between individuals or organisations, either public or corporate, which deal with financial matters, accounts, and taxation.
Handle financial transactions: Administer currencies, financial exchange activities, deposits as well as company and voucher payments. Prepare and manage guest accounts and take payments by cash, credit card and debit card.

ISCO group and title

3353 – Government social benefits officials

 

 


 

 

References
  1. Pensions administrator – ESCO
Last updated on August 8, 2022

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