Pensions management consulting

The pensions industry has been subject to constant change over the last few years and this looks set to continue. The responsibilities for those involved in running pension schemes are growing ever more onerous.

The recent legislative changes (A-Day) have brought the largest ever change to the way in which pension schemes are run. In addition, there are currently many other administration-related issues for employers (both private and public sector) and trustees to get to grips with. For example:

• scheme governance and internal controls;
• deficit reduction measures;
• administration efficiency; and
• the next set of legislative requirements, such as the auto-enrolment proposals impacting all UK employers.

Poor administration and governance have been prevalent for a long time but the dangers of getting these wrong now are heightened by the amount of new legislation. Just identifying the issues is in itself a major challenge. For example, the new regulatory regime has taken us from a discretionary to a prescribed basis, and unauthorised member payments can easily be made and result in serious charges and sanctions being imposed.

Our experts have a wealth of experience in change projects and in understanding/mitigating against risks. We can therefore relate to individual circumstances and provide tailored approaches to each issue, covering:

• Changes in scheme management or governance
• A-Day compliance projects
• Benchmarking the performance, cost or efficiency of your department / provider
• Outsourcing or re-tendering your services
• Enhancing the effectiveness of your department, IT or procedures

We invest considerable time and effort in maintaining our market knowledge and we have also developed Bridge, an interactive website containing extensive, up-to-date market data entered and maintained by pension and benefit providers. We use this tool to support many of our client assignments, such as the selection of third party pensions administrators and pensions administration software providers.