Scheme investment review

Employers need to get actively involved in Defined Benefit scheme investment decisions

Investment policy is crucial to Defined Benefit schemes in two ways. Firstly, investment policy affects the value placed on the scheme’s liabilities, and secondly, it determines the contributions to fund a scheme. This makes investment policy an area of significant importance to sponsoring employers.

Although trustees of Defined Benefit pension schemes are ultimately responsible for setting investment policy, they do have to consult with the employer before finalising their policy. Unfortunately, this often ends up as a cursory exercise with no real discussion or debate.

It’s vital that employers engage in the detail of investment discussions, making sure the policy aligns with the company’s long-term plans.

How can First Actuarial help?

We offer a comprehensive investment service to help employers shape their trustees’ investment decisions.

A typical project may involve:

  • Helping the employer agree a long-term goal for the scheme
  • Reviewing investment strategy – making sure the current or proposed strategy aligns with long-term plans
  • Suggesting improvements to trustee strategies – either to reduce risk, increase return or make cost savings
  • Attending a meeting to help the employer agree a new investment strategy with the trustees.

Alternatively, we can help employers monitor investment performance, whether trustees use one Fiduciary Manager or several investment managers.

We’ll make sure that trustees give due consideration to your objectives, and that you get a say in investment decision-making.

Why choose First Actuarial?

Our consultants are able to explain the complexities of investments to sponsoring employers, and provide clear, pragmatic advice. We use in-house software to demonstrate the impact of different investment strategies to non-specialists.

We maintain close relationships with fund managers, who keep us informed of new developments, and we share their insights with our clients.

We are used to working closely with both employers and trustees. We bring trustees closer to employers.

Get in touch

Get in touch with one of our investment consultants to discuss how we can help you.

The team have played a major part in our achieving a very satisfactory investment performance and a stronger funding position.

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