News

BESTrustees professional trustee client, the Metallus UK Pension Scheme, has completed a £40 million bulk purchase annuity (BPA) transaction with Royal London, the UK’s largest customer-owned life, pensions and investment provider. The buy-in secures the benefits of 493 members. A key feature of the transaction was the collaborative approach taken during the exclusivity period, enabling the parties to agree the expected journey from buy-in to buyout to ensure the Trustees’ objectives could be met. Isio acted as risk transfer adviser whilst the Trustees received legal advice from Gowling WLG and administrative and actuarial support from Aon. “We are pleased to …

The Association of Professional Pension Trustees (APPT) today announced that Council members, Christopher Wheeler and Julia Yates, are taking the helm as Co-Chairs of the APPT, succeeding Rachel Croft (current Chair) and Vassos Vassou (current Vice Chair) who have both completed their terms in office as Council members. The move to appointing Co-Chairs takes effect from the Association’s AGM on 21 October and is a reflection of the considerable increase in workload faced by a growing Association that has more than doubled in size over the last 5 years or so, as the influence and role of professional trustees has …

BESTrustees professional trustee Rachel Brougham has been appointed as a trustee of the Cushon Master Trust (CMT). She brings experience from across the pensions sector, particularly in pension administration and member engagement. Before joining BESTrustees in 2014, she spent more than 25 years at Mercer providing actuarial, benefit, governance and defined contribution consulting. CMT trustee board chairman Roger Mattingly said: “I’m delighted to welcome Rachel to the CMT board. Her experience, professionalism and focus on delivering for members will be a real asset to the board.” Cushon managing director Troy Clutterbuck said: “We’re really happy to welcome Rachel into the …

At the beginning of July, Professional Pensions assembled a panel of experts to look at the journey from buy-in to buyout and member experience. The roundtable, chaired by PP editor Jonathan Stapleton and held in association with Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC), examined two of the most active themes in the pension risk transfer market – the often complex journey schemes take from buy-in to buyout, and the member experience both during that transition and after buyout. The panel concluded representatives of most off the major professional indedendent trustee firms; BESTrustees was represented by Alan Pickering CBE. Click here for the …