There is something immensely likeable about Clara. It is now listed on the Pension Regulator’s website as Britain’s first Superfund. The news was greeted with relief by those involved with defined benefit pensions and with obvious pleasure from Clara’s principles
Note the likes and read the long-list of comments , to recognize the goodwill for Adam Saron and his team.
Having posted my congratulations , I was amazed to be contacted by Clara’s Director of Policy Richard Williams who called to thank me! Clara’s Chair, Lawrence Churchill, who worked with Richard at the PPF , talked to me earlier about his admiration for him. I echo that. There is a decency about Clara that is not generally found in pensions and it has stood it in good stead.
Richard confirmed, what I had long suspected, that the real Clara is Mrs Saron, who many of us know in other guises
It is hard not to love what happened late on Monday night and I hope that Clara fulfills its promise.
The testing of Superfunds for capital adequacy look to be rigorous and will be applied each time a new customer looks to be taken on. The legislation that allows for superfunds to be assessed and listed , as Clara has been, is one of the great successes of Guy Opperman’s tenure as Pension Minister.
Many people did not expect to see Clara’s announcement but few are sad they have!
Another likeable Superfund
Let’s hope that Edi Truell’s Pension SuperFund follows Clara onto the Pension Regulator’s list- and very soon.
I like Edi and his team too and I particularly like the plans he has to provide members of defined benefit with certainty and release the sponsors of their schemes from the upcoming servitude of the DB funding code.
It was good to see Edi’s tribute to Adam and Clara among the comments linked to above.
The cost to the UK economy of running so many DB pension schemes is immense. The capacity of Superfunds to provide a secure alternative to the servitude to the funding code or demise into the Pension Protection fund is substantial.
While the Clara and Superfund models have big differences, they are both satisfying the same fundamental need and I look forward to a second positive announcement from the Regulator soon!
