NatWest bought Cushon in 2023
NatWest Group is looking to offload Cushon as its chief executive (CEO) refocuses the high street bank on its core strategic priorities, reports say.
In an article published on Friday (19 September), Sky News said it had learned that NatWest was working with advisers on a sale of Cushon and was in "detailed talks with a number of potential buyers" of the business.
NatWest completed its acquisition of an 85% shareholding in Cushon for £144m in June 2023 in a deal that left the master trust's management retain the remaining 15% of the business.
At the time, NatWest said it would use the acquisition to diversify – offering Cushon's products to the bank's commercial and business banking customers and providing a "strategic, purpose-led vision of helping customers save for the future and manage their financial wellbeing".
The architect of the Cushon deal – wealth businesses CEO Peter Flavel – left NatWest in July 2023 following the dispute over the closure of the Coutts account of Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. The then NatWest CEO Alison Rose also left the business at this time to be replaced by the bank's current boss Paul Thwaite.
A disposal of Cushon would reflect the strategic priorities of Thwaite – which includes a "bank-wide simplification" programme.
According to the latest DC master trust league table from Go Pensions, NatWest Cushon has around £3.3bn of assets and serves some 687,000 members and 20,400 employers.
The speculation around the future of Cushon comes after the government published its Pension Schemes Bill in June – legislation which will create new rules around DC scheme "megafunds", setting down a minimum default fund size of £25bn for master trust default funds by 2030 in a bid to consolidate the industry.
A NatWest Group spokesperson said: "We don't comment on speculation. Cushon is making good progress and we have seen that the pension product is attractive for our commercial customers. Our focus remains on delivering for our customers."
