Independent Trusteeship

Independent Trusteeship

With the introduction of the Pensions Act 2021 and the Pension Regulators General Code of Practice, effective 28 March 2024, there is now a tidal wave of Governance and skills required to be a trustee of an Occupational Pension Scheme.

The Pension Regulator (tPR) now has enhanced powers to take both criminal or civil proceeds against trustees and/or sponsors. There is a growing trend for trustee boards to consider appointing an “independent professional trustee” or move to a sole trustee arrangement. A traditional trustee board is a collection of individuals who together act as a trustee board. They will be nominated by the members or employer or be a person or company completely independent of the sponsoring employer who sits alongside the other individuals.  By adding an independent professional trustee to an existing trustee Board, ‘lay trustees’ no matter how experienced have the reassurance that they have support and the comfort that they are focussing on the right things at the right time.  For sponsors, they find that matters are often deal with more efficiently and effectively.

An independent professional trustee can provide an additional layer of expertise and professionalism to help the Board with:

• Road to buy-in or buy-out
• Governance including Risk Registers/SIP/Business Plan/ESG strategy/Chairmans statement/Accounts
• De-risking exercises (including Transfer exercises FRO/BAU)
• Preparation for the Pensions Dashboard
• Practical and affordable policies to address Environmental, Governance and Stewardship risks
• Stewardship activities, including for smallest schemes
• Pension Regulator reporting
• Dealing and monitoring support providers including Administration/Actuarial/Audit/Legal/Comms

HS Trustees offer years of experience to support your Trustee Board with the complexities of running an “occupational” scheme. We can act as either the Chairman of the Board, an independent Trustee on the board or as the whole board, in the role of a Sole Corporate Trustee.