This scheme appears to be newsworthy because it is being put to bed despite it being very small indeed
The Geoghegan & Company Staff Pension Scheme has completed a £1.5m full scheme buy-in with Just Group, securing the benefits of all eight deferred members and eight pensioner members.
The deal, which was completed using Broadstone’s SM&RT Insure process in tandem with Just’s streamlined bulk quotation service Beacon, was highlighted as evidence that there is capacity in the market for even the smallest schemes
Nice advertising for Just and Broadstone and nice for a firm that is now part of MHA a part of Baker Tilly. The Chair of Trustees is Euan Fernie a partner of MHA and he is keen to get some advertising for MHA into the story
“The company can progress to its next chapter with MHA, free from the costs and risks of the legacy arrangement and, along with the trustees, safe in the knowledge that the member’s benefits have been secured.”
But I wonder what we are celebrating.about. 16 people have benefits secured by Just whereas previously they had been in a with-profits policy
Having been fully invested in a with-profits fund, the scheme’s assets grew while the buyout cost fell in recent years as interest rates rose.
Just how much specialist service do you need to work out how much you owe your pensioners and how much is the cash in value of your with-profits policy? The 16 people were 100% secure from Baker Tilly/MHA’s covenant and a market that incredibly increased the value of the with profits plan.
I have no idea why the pension world needs to know how pleased Euan Fernie is to be saying goodbye to a proportion of his benefits to an insurer. I expect the rest will go soon enough and there will be more headlines but are we really involved in what is happening?
This is a story that celebrates there being insurers and consultants who can profit from a scheme of no meaningful size which forms part of an insurance portfolio of with profit funds.
We are not here talking about improving the retirements of 16 people, infact if this with profit policy grows faster than is needed, it will make someone a profit – unlikely to be the members who are now being paid by an annuity.
Only accountants could really find this interesting. worthy of celebration and a cause of mutual self-congratulation.
Surely we can set the bar higher, surely there are better things that can be done for schemes that have achieved with-profit stability and the promise of with-profit pensions.
