Top managers in some companies are getting a much bigger slice of pension funds than ordinary members, particularly when they lose their jobs for whatever reason.
John Murphy, the Pension Funds Adjudicator, says this is a no-no and retirement fund trustees could find themselves in trouble for allowing the practice.
Evidence of senior managers getting a bigger slice came out in the report of a recent complaint before Murphy.
Murphy says if this is happening, there may be merit in the argument that the trustees arein breach of their fiduciary duty to treat all members impartially.
In the case it was argued that differential benefits were justified in the same way that different salaries were paid for different levels of seniority.
Murphy, however, argued that the different pay and contributions levels would in any case favour the pension benefits of people on higher pay structures.