Bank of Ireland's LifeBalance wins Best Pension Fund in Ireland 2007

Bank of Ireland Group today announced (19 December 2007) that its pension scheme, LifeBalance, which was launched in October 2006 for new employees, was awarded Best Pension Fund in Ireland 2007, at the Investment & Pensions Europe (IPE) Awards held in Vienna recently.

The judging panel included members from the IPE, the foremost pensions industry journal in Europe, and an extensive number of pension consultants from each European country.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Frank Flynn, Head of Group Pensions, Bank of Ireland said: "The Bank's aim is to provide good pension benefits for all Group employees, enabling them to receive a decent pension at retirement. By introducing LifeBalance, our employes are assured of a modern and progressive pension structure. We are particularly pleased to be the first Irish company to introduce such a scheme".

The editorial director of the IPE and senior consultants from all of the pensions consultancies operating in Ireland formed the judging panel for the Best Pension Fund in Ireland Award. The following are some of their comments in relation to LifeBalance:

"The Bank did not merely close its defined benefit plan and buy into a defined contribution scheme. It has carefully and diligently developed a pensions model that suits all types of employees across the board. It has taken into account national regulations that group companies may encounter overseas and developed different layers of flexible and secure savings accounts that will appeal to a diverse and growing personnel".

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For further information contact:
Anne Mathews
Media Relations Manager
Bank of Ireland Group Corporate Communications

Note to Editors:
LifeBalance is the pension scheme for all new permanent employees of the Group since 1 October 2006. The new scheme is neither a defined benefit nor a defined contribution scheme but comprises elements of both.

The new scheme comprises a 'Retirement Capital Account and an optional 'Personal Investment Account'. Under the scheme the Bank and the employee contribute to a fund (employee contribution is 2.5%), the Bank protects the fund against investment underperformance and, at retirement, the employee uses the fund to purchase retirement benefits. In this way, the employee gets security around the value of their fund at retirement. The second or optional element of the scheme is a 'Personal Investment Account', which is a matching defined contribution scheme, with the Bank matching employee contributions of up to 3%.