Who implements the PAO instruction to pay retirement benefits?

• A. The member
• B. The member's employer
• C. The scheme trustees
• D. The regulator

Answer: (C)

Payments to retirees are overseen by the scheme’s trustees. They hold the fiduciary responsibility for the scheme and decide when and how benefits are paid in accordance with the rules of the plan and the law. A PAO instruction to pay retirement benefits is executed under the trustees’ authority, with the scheme administrator carrying out the day-to-day processing as directed. The member and the employer don’t have the authority to implement benefit payments, and the regulator’s role is to oversee compliance, not to implement payments. So the trustees are the ones who implement the instruction to pay retirement benefits.