DB consolidation

Move come as consolidator prepares to conduct first transactions

DB scheme consolidator Stoneport hopes to get 100 schemes signed up by the end of next year, but employer covenant will be vital, chief executive Richard Jones tells James Phillips.

Caroline Kurup explores the latest TPR guidance on superfund transfers and what scheme trustees should be considering

Pension scheme trustees and sponsors should only seek to transfer members’ benefits to a defined benefit (DB) consolidator if there is no “realistic prospect of buyout in the foreseeable future”, The Pensions Regulator (TPR) says.

A second pensions bill is likely during the “life of this parliament”, according to pensions and financial inclusion minister Guy Opperman.

A burgeoning superfund market could be on the cards within three years as defined benefit (DB) scheme trustees and sponsors face myriad legislative, economic, and capacity issues, says Lane Clark & Peacock (LCP).

Defined benefit (DB) schemes will have to wait an extra year and a half on average to agree a buyout compared to their pre-Covid-19 endgame journey plans, Barnett Waddingham estimates.

Superfunds could be on course to complete multi-billion-pound transfers of defined benefit (DB) funds by the end of this year, Isio says.

Pension Insurance Corporation has reiterated its call for the establishment of a new consolidation vehicle, run by a not-for-profit agency, to target smaller underfunded schemes with weak sponsors.

With the launch of an interim regime, the consolidation market is set to take off. But before superfunds begin taking on schemes, the regulator must have 'rigour and understanding' of the market, David Fairs tells James Phillips.