We’ll start by clarifying your scheme objectives, looking at your LTFT and listening to trustees and sponsors. Typical scheme objectives we might work towards are:

• Buy-out – Securing benefits by purchasing an insurance policy. We’re in regular contact with insurers, and keep our pricing knowledge up to date. Our risk transfer service provides robust estimates of the likely buy-out costs, and identifies market opportunities when they arise.
• Low dependency – Giving the scheme enough assets to reduce reliance on the sponsor in the payment of benefits. We use sophisticated risk modelling to project the funding position over time.

With our investment modelling tool, we’ll identify the key characteristics of the current investment strategy. We’ll use the model to help you assess the impact of potential adjustments to the asset allocation. Is it too risky? Are its expected returns high enough? How would adjustments affect the asset allocation?

We can then design a new investment strategy that aligns with your scheme’s objectives, sponsor covenant and circumstances. We’ll strike an appropriate balance between growth projections and the expected volatility of the funding position.

We specialise in advising small and medium pension schemes (below £500m). Our consultancy services – including the funds we research – reflect that focus.

At the heart of our investment consultancy are two key questions – where is that scheme now and where is it heading?

Some schemes are still open to accrual, so we need to consider their active members. Some trustees have strong views in areas like the environment, which we must take into account in our recommendations. And some schemes are small, limiting the range of investment asset classes they can use.

And what are the long-term objectives? Maybe it’s low dependency or buy-out, for example. How long will it take to get the scheme to that position?

We listen to our clients, and then we lead them through a four-part process to align their investments with the direction they want to take.

We are a well established investment team – formed over a decade ago – with experienced authorised consultants. Our Head of Investment Services has 25 years of pensions experience and has been working as an investment consultant since 2008. Our other senior investment consultants have similar levels of experience.

Across the team, we’re all driven to do the right thing for our clients at all times, even if that doesn’t earn us the highest fees. We focus on providing advice that is in the best interests of the scheme.

If a simple, low-cost solution – such as a cost-effective fund platform – is suitable, then that is what we recommend. An automated approach also frees up more time for what we do best – understanding the needs of our clients and providing human guidance and advice in clear, straightforward language.

This reflects the company’s client-first approach. We take the time to listen to our clients and develop a clear strategy on that basis. We offer a range of options to meet different objectives and budgets – from simple market-based yield triggers to bespoke funding monitoring on a daily basis.

None of our staff have chargeable hours targets, and we are not incentivised to ‘sell’ investment products to our clients.

We’re a close-knit team – that’s one of our biggest strengths and our clients benefit from that. We have regular market discussions, where consultants and researchers contribute market intelligence together with insights from trustees and fund managers. Our transition specialists can then pick up any issues affecting transactions and market liquidity. All of this gives our investment consultants a broad and detailed view of market developments at all times.

First Actuarial helps trustees get the best possible outcome from market volatility by identifying the best time to make investment switches.

We work with trustees to define triggers for action, based on funding strategy and the specific needs of the scheme. This puts trustees in a position to take advantage of opportunities as they arise.

We offer a range of services that will meet the specific needs of your pension scheme, from simple market-based yield triggers to bespoke funding-level monitoring on a daily basis.

Our rigorous research process underpins our assessment of how funds are likely to perform in specific market conditions. To help achieve this, we focus on identifying funds with clear mandates and consistent approaches, and on gaining a clear understanding of the investment manager’s philosophy.

And when considering the suitability of a fund, we follow a thorough, four-stage research process to filter down to the most appropriate choices:

1. We gather information and insights around a broad range of potential funds, using the eVestment global database.
2. We devise a bespoke screening process, combining external sources such as eVestment with our own professional experience to filter out funds that have downside risks or are otherwise unsuitable.
3. We meet the fund management teams of the remaining candidates, to give our researchers a thorough understanding of how the funds are managed so they can assess their suitability for our clients.
4. We deliver an independent review of findings. Our research team presents its recommendations to our Investment Rating Committee, which provides independent oversight and challenges findings.

When trustees decide to make changes to their investments, we help them transition their assets from one strategy to another while managing the risk.

When managing a transition, we:

• Draw up a plan, setting out the steps required to reach the target portfolio
• Identify all risks within the plan, and detail how we propose to mitigate them
• Follow defined processes, both internally and with third parties, to minimise errors
• Minimise transaction costs and keep overall costs in line with expectations
• Monitor on a regular basis, making sure all activities proceed as planned.

Throughout the process, our transition specialists work closely with the wider investment team to

• Agree the best way of transitioning the portfolio
• Formalise any changes, to prevent any misunderstanding or miscommunication
• Make any refinements to the investment strategy, keeping the client fully informed.

We provide performance reporting on our Client Hub, on which we update clients’ asset valuations on a daily basis. Our performance reports cover absolute returns, comparisons with the overall market, and peer group reports.

We produce peer-group reports for a full range of asset classes. These reports benchmark fund performance against those in the same asset class operated by other investment managers.

This can give trustees more meaningful insights than the fund manager’s official performance statistics. We make sure peer-group reporting is relevant and up to date by issuing and loading it on to the Hub within two weeks of quarter-end.

Trustees can also generate their own PDF document containing key information about the scheme’s investments. This includes the latest valuation data, performance statistics and our views on each of the funds held. The document provides a useful overview of investments held, and we include it in trustee meeting packs

We monitor actual vs expected performance of funds on a continuous basis. If we become concerned about a particular fund, our Investment Rating Committee considers how we should respond. We may decide to alert clients, or even recommend that trustees seek an alternative fund.