I become here a commentator, not an advisor or a to be CDC proprietor – just a jaw dropped commentator!
This is a truly extraordinary achievement by People’s Pension and they have done it in a year when they walked away from a deal with State Street and created an investment department of its own.
I think that People’s are underrated by the pensions industry and that in the past has included me, I hope that I can get to the bottom of what they are doing right and make sure I pick some of the gold dust up!
Here is Holly Roach of Professional Pensions with her and People’s Pension’s views
People’s Pension has reached £40bn in assets under management (AUM), having grown by £10bn in the last 14 months.
The master trust, which is managed by People’s Partnership, said it expects to exceed £50bn AUM within two years and £100bn within the next ten years, adding it is “poised” to become one of the top 100 asset owners in the world.
People’s Pension said its growth has been driven by strong investment returns, employer confidence, and a long-term commitment to delivering better value for its members.
People’s Pension trustee chair Mark Condron said:
“Just over a year ago, we passed £30bn assets under management, and to already be at £40bn is a huge achievement for People’s Pension.
“As our assets continue to grow, our commitment remains unchanged: to put members’ interests at the heart of everything we do and to use our scale responsibly to deliver long-term value for our members.”People’s Partnership chief investment officer Dan Mikulskis added:
“Reaching £40bn in assets under management marks yet another significant moment in the evolution of People’s Pension and reflects the confidence placed in us by members, employers, and advisers. It’s testament to the accomplishment of auto-enrolment in bringing millions more people into retirement saving, alongside the success of People’s Pension in providing a top-class home for members’ savings.
“This is another milestone in our journey to becoming a world class asset owner. Over the past year, we have expanded our in-house capabilities and forged new partnerships to support this evolution.
“Our continued growth brings with it greater responsibility, and as we look ahead, we will build on this progress by continuing to use our considerable scale most effectively to drive value for members.”People’s Partnership chief commercial officer David Meliveo said: “At a time when the government is reforming the market, and calling for larger, better-run schemes, achieving £40bn assets under management reaffirms that People’s Pension has the scale required to meet those expectations.
“Our focus remains firmly on what matters to our stakeholders, meaning we will continue to enhance our proposition and build on the strong returns we are delivering to our seven million members.
“As a pension with purpose, and with no shareholders to pay, we’re able to use our growing scale to benefit advisers, employers and most importantly our members.”
Last year, People’s Pension announced it would move £28bn into segregated markets with the appointment of Amundi and Invesco as asset managers. It also confirmed Robeco would manage its £3.6bn emerging markets portfolio.
The big unanswered question will be what People’s Pension can do to pay back all this money to those who default to become pensioners.
Yesterday, Nest gave us more detail on how they will look after those people who grow gloriously old (past 85). How will Nest meet that challenge? Will they use a flex and fix approach, are they considering a Retirement CDC or do they have more gold dust up their sleeve, that none of us quite understand (yet?).
People’s Pension is only 13 years years old, it came out of an insurer who had ruled the roost on Stakeholder Pensions and I am quite sure it will find a third success in growing to £100m by keeping people it looks after in a pension paid to the people by the People (in partnership).
Well done lads and lasses – happy retirement that lad front left!