NatWest Credit: iStock
WTW has emerged as the frontrunner in the race to buy NatWest Cushon following an auction which has attracted several industry names, Sky News reports.
In an article written by the news provider's City editor Mark Kleinman on Friday (28 November), Sky News said a sale by NatWest would come as part of chief executive Paul Thwaite's strategy to refocus the bank on its core strategic priorities.
WTW already runs a master trust, LifeSight, which announced it had surpassed £20bn in assets under management (AUM) earlier this year. The master trust, which was launched in 2015, said reaching this "milestone" in AUM comes after the number of scheme members it covers surpassed 400,000, which includes over 5,000 members in its post-retirement drawdown section.
NatWest completed its acquisition of an 85% shareholding in Cushon for £144m in June 2023 in a £144m 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".
It is understood that, since NatWest acquired Cushon, introductions from NatWest in the commercial mid-market (businesses with up to 600 employees) and business banking segment (firms with up to five employees) had been successful, with the master trust adding over 200,000 members since it was bought.
According to the latest defined contribution (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.
WTW said it did not comment on speculation. A NatWest spokesperson said: "We do not comment on speculation. Our focus remains on delivering for our customers."
