Press Releases

Hymans Robertson has published a new interactive guide to help pension trustees understand the requirements of the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures “TCFD” ahead of regulations for pension schemes coming into force on 1 October.

Commenting on the joint TPR and FCA Pensions Consumer Journey: Call for Input, Kathryn Fleming, Partner, Hymans Robertson says:

“We welcome the joint TPR and FCA Call for Input consultation and believe it is asking the right questions. However it will take a real collaborative effort from the industry to make a notable difference. There needs to be an increase in the simplicity and consistency of all language used in the touchpoint communications highlighted in the consultation, not just for the annual benefit statements."

Commenting on the FCA Consultation on Consumer Duty, Stephen Birch, Managing Partner Investment Services, Hymans Robertson Investment Services, says:

“We, like many firms see these Consumer Duty proposals as an opportunity to strengthen and build on good consumer practice and will embrace and embed this into policy and process. They also present a chance to further develop how firms work with client vulnerabilities and behavioural biases, an area the FCA has been focused on for some time and which has been heightened during the Covid-19 pandemic."

Taking consolidation further and faster, as proposed in the DWP consultation Future of the defined contribution pension market: the case for greater consolidation, would be counter-productive and reduce competition and innovation claims Hymans Robertson, the leading pensions and financial services consultancy, in its response to the proposals.

Hymans Robertson has appointed Susan Black into the new role of Head of GAP (Governance, Administration and Projects) within its LGPS team. Against a backdrop of structural and regulatory change and enhanced scrutiny from Scheme stakeholders, Susan will lead and develop the services offered by the leading pensions and financial services consultancy’s expert team of integrated Governance, Administration and Projects specialists to support LGPS its clients.

Hymans Robertson is to offer all its employees more flexibility about the amount of time they spend in the office, with the opportunity to work in a hybrid way post pandemic. The leading pensions and financial services consultancy’s new approach will allow all staff, if they choose, to benefit from a mixture of remote and office working. The new hybrid working approach has been developed by the firm, after extensive consultation with employees, through its ongoing ‘Reimagining Working Life’ project.

Hymans Robertson has appointed Leonard Bowman to the new role of Head of Corporate DB Endgame Strategy, recognising the increasing importance for companies with DB schemes to strategically plan their journey over the next decade as they enter the final stages of their lifecycle. Leonard, already a Partner at the leading pensions and financial services consultancy, joined the firm earlier this year as part of its acquisition of Bath Actuarial Consulting (BAC).

Phoenix Group, the UK’s largest long-term savings and retirement business, today announces that it has completed a £230 million bulk purchase annuity transaction with the Trustee of the Agfa UK Group Pension Plan.

This buy-in is the Plan’s first transaction, covering 70% of its pensioner liabilities. As part of the Trustee’s long term de-risking strategy, the Company provided additional funding support which facilitated a pensioner buy-in, increasing the long-term security of all members’ benefits.

This latest transaction is in line with Phoenix’s ambition to become a market leading BPA franchise, with a continued focus on value not volume.

Lead advisers to the Trustee for this transaction were Hymans Robertson.

Hymans Robertson, the leading independent pensions and financial services consultancy, has promoted eleven colleagues to Partner. This is the highest number of new Partners in the firm’s history and comes as it celebrates its 100^th birthday and reaches the milestone of 1000 employees.

Those newly promoted to Partner are Ailsa Dunn, Alan Garbarino, David McGruther, Jitske VanLonden, Joanne Gyte, John Pyburn, Karen Gilchrist, Lucy Steers, Robert Bilton, Sally Eagers and Shoko French.

Commenting on the DWP Consultation “Stronger nudge to pensions guidance” Michael Ambery, Partner, Hymans Robertson says:

“We warmly welcome the DWP Consultation “Stronger Nudge to Pensions Guidance” and fully support the use of signposting. We believe signposting would likely improve outcomes for individuals and ensure products meet an individual’s needs, as well as providing awareness of other pensions and savings products. Signposting would also provide much needed awareness and education on options at the point of retirement, and stop a generation from sleepwalking into making default decisions that may be detrimental.”

Commenting on GMP Equalisation Working Group’s “Guidance Note on GMP Conversion”, Matt Davis, Head of GMP Equalisation, says:

“Resolving GMP equalisation has involved just over thirty years of hurt for the industry, so today’s release of the GMP Equalisation Working Group’s “Guidance Note on GMP Conversion” will be welcome news, as will the update from PASA on upcoming guidance. The guidance sets out practical examples based on approaches developed for some conversion projects for early adopters."

Commenting on the Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) Call for Input on Staging as it reaches the deadline for response, Karl Lidgley, Client Manager Third Party Administration at Hymans Robertson, says:

“We fully support the PDP’s aim of “enabling individuals to access their pension’s information online, securely and all in one place which will help supporting better planning for retirement and growing financial wellbeing."

“The fact that a vast number of pension plans are lost or unclaimed is a vital factor in the timing of the stages for the rollout. The ABI estimated that there are 1.6m lost pensions plans with the Government predicting there will be 50 million dormant and lost pensions by 2050. This orphaned pension problem is only going to increase due to a rise in job changing, particularly as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, making it an even more urgent issue."