Pension Commissioners were concerned that more than half of the pension plans they saw were defective, according to the Commission?s annual report for 2002.

And they were also concerned by the lack of progress on registration of plans, said Commission chairman Roger Titterton in the report.

?While the occupational pensions community in Bermuda made sincere and significant efforts to adjust to the new requirements of the legislation, the majority of plans reviewed by the Commission staff had material deficiencies,? wrote Mr. Titterton.

The Pension Commission has responsibility to oversee of the National Pension scheme which was established in January 1, 2000. All employers and self-employed people are obligated to set up and maintain pension plans for themselves and their employees.

By the end of 2002, staff had reviewed 163 plans and the changes were communicated to pension plan managers. The report does not spell out what the most common problems were.

It was the Commission?s goal to have reviewed all the plans again by the end of December 2003.

The report showed the Pension Commission had assets of $845,654 at the end of 2002 compared to $800,389 the previous year.

The bulk of its funding - $643,835 - continued to come from a Government grants, followed by fees of $176,305, amortization of deferred capital contributions $12,184, and investment income $12,184.

The major expenditure was salaries, which accounted for $533,707 of the $777,855 expended.