Secretariat

Secretariat

Effective management of Trustee business

Trustees take on countless responsibilities including adhering to regulation, managing funding and investment considerations, building/sustaining member confidence and expectations, and having empathy with employer objectives.

To help them meet these responsibilities, trustees appoint various professional advisers - actuaries, lawyers, auditors, administrators, accountants.

However, one role that is often completely overlooked is that of Secretary to the Trustees and the value that is added by having a professional secretary who is independent from all parties and conflicts of interest.

At Pi the role of the Secretary to the Trustees is a core service.  In this capacity Pi will act to ensure that target dates are agreed for all tasks relating to the running of the pension scheme and, once agreed, ensure they are met.  Pi can alleviate much of the pressure from the employer and the trustees concerning regulation issues and enable them to be confident that their pension scheme is being run in the best possible way.

Pi Consulting's trustee services embrace ongoing schemes and those that are in wind-up.

As well as the functions mentioned above, as Secretary to the Trustees Pi is of course responsible for the more practical tasks involved in the running of trustee meetings, which include:

• Preparation of agendas - including circulation of agenda to trustees and providers a month before each meeting for comments prior to agreement
• Preparation of backing papers to accompany the agenda, including simple but comprehensive notes on each agenda point.  These are issued with the agenda, at least seven days before the meeting, to allow trustees and providers to give prior consideration to all matters.  They also act as a very important tool for the Chairman of the Trustees in the running of the meetings
• Preparation and issue of draft minutes within fourteen days of each trustee meeting (including actions and responsibilities)
• Issue of final minutes once agreed
• Chasing of assigned action points.
• Additional management of the the Trustees needs including:
  • Compliance with pension law and regulation
  • Project management of services, providers and special exercises
  • Independent monitoring of performance standards and fees
  • Tailored trustee training.

Project Examples

Yale - A company with a fairly typical structure of one trading company and multiple 'shell' employing companies gave notice on the 22nd March 2009 of their intention to introduce an intra-group guarantee to the pension scheme.  The intention was to submit the legal arrangement for the approval of the PPF in order to secure a reduction in PPF levies.

Such documents had to be submitted by 5.00pm on the 31 March 2009 if they were to be effective for 2009 levy calculation.

It can be appreciated that such a small window would  test the metal of any Secretary.  Pi instructed legal advice for the Trustees and then arranged Trustee signatures on the document before the deadline date.  The last Trustee signature was secured at a very early hour on the 31 March 2009 at a remote train station, as the Trustee returned from holiday!

Inca - An international Chemical and Pharmaceutical Group with a European parent company.  Actuarial, consultancy, secretarial and administration services were all supplied by one provider.  Pi was asked to scrutinise the existing fee agreements and service levels to ensure that they were run with maximum efficiency.

As the company began to feel the effects of the economic downturn we were invited to additionally review the conduct of the Trustee's business and the interaction with the sub committees, with a remit to ensure that the essentials of compliance and governance were met but that 'frills' or duplication were removed. 

The resulting reduction from our involvement was to take costs down by about £185,000 a year.