Pension Trustees - Appointment to ongoing schemes

By providing reassurance and technical support, the appointment of an independent trustee to an ongoing scheme can be beneficial to scheme members, co-trustees and the sponsoring employer.

In certain circumstances, under new provisions introduced by the Pensions Act 2004, the Pensions Regulator can appoint an independent trustee to an ongoing scheme: When the Pensions Regulator can appoint an Independent Trustee.

Our appointment will assist where there is a potential conflict of interest between an employer and its pension scheme trustees. We are well experienced in managing conflicts in a practical and constructive way, enabling decisions to be made and reassuring members that their interests are protected.

As well as giving members confidence that the stewardship of their pension scheme is in good hands, we aim to ensure that our role is cost effective at all times.

We can:

• Act as scheme secretary by drafting agendas, taking minutes and issuing notices of meetings.
• Complete a scheme compliance review on our appointment to ensure all legislative requirements are met.
• Administer payments from, and act as signatory to, scheme bank accounts.
• Provide diary management to ensure all deadlines are met, such as scheme accounts, valuations and member communication requirements.
• Manage relationships between parties, such as insurance companies, actuaries, auditors, investment managers and regulatory bodies.
• Manage specific issues on an ad hoc basis such as member transfers and pension and divorce queries.
• Manage member communication issues, from drafting announcements to arranging presentations to your staff on issues such as benefit changes.
• Assist co-trustees in acquiring and maintaining the new knowledge and understanding requirements of the Pensions Act 2004.

We are happy to tailor our service so that we do not duplicate unnecessarily with existing service providers.