Trusteeship

Approach to Trusteeship

We believe that the key to effectively managing a pension scheme lies in fostering a trust-filled relationship between the company, as the scheme sponsor, and Dalriada.Together, acting as the Trustee. The relationship is based on a mutual understanding of the objectives of both the company and the scheme. We are confident that adopting this approach is not only beneficial for the company but also ensures the well-being of the scheme members. 

Many of the companies we have worked with feel the scheme takes up too much of their time. Their senior executives, trustees and advisers spend too much time on this, resulting in high costs. Additionally, when companies attempt to collaborate with trustees they are often perceived as the "bad guys," even though they are just trying to fulfil their responsibilities.

We will achieve the agreed objectives by working together openly and collaboratively, using an executive and proactive approach. This will substantially reduce the workload on the company.

Dalriada.Together strongly supports the professionalisation and adherence to the highest standards in pension trusteeship. The capabilities of a professional pension trustee firm allows centralisation of operations and the use of economies of scale, while maintaining a specific focus on your scheme's objectives.

There are key elements to the robust and professional trusteeship of a pension scheme that require attention and dedication.  

Governance

We provide the highest possible standards of governance for your scheme. This means:

• We focus on meeting statutory deadlines;

• We keep the scheme ahead of all statutory and regulatory changes; and

• We take responsibility for fiduciary care of the scheme and we put members at the heart of what we do.

As a minimum, we meet the Association of Professional Pension Trustees’ (APPT) guidance for trusteeship and for Professional Corporate Sole Trustee (PCST). Our staff include colleagues who sit on the Council for the APPT and who drafted and prepared the APPT guidance for PCST (sole trustee guidance). Many of Dalriada's processes for sole trustees are considered best practice by the wider industry.

We recognise that operational risk, especially “key-man” risk, is a concern for many schemes. Our team approach to managing pension schemes ensures that multiple team members are well-versed in the schemes and their current activities. This approach ensures a consistent and timely delivery of work without fluctuations in individual team members' workloads.

Diversity and Inclusion

Our trustees have different experiences and backgrounds which in turn helps Dalriada.Together to deliver better outcomes for the schemes we look after. 

Our Dalriada.Together team covers a wide age range from 20s through to late 50s, plus we have a 50:50 gender split. The team’s knowledge and experiences cover investment, actuarial, administration, legal, audit and compliance. This makes it easier for us to promote diversity and inclusion in support of the schemes we run.

The knowledge and experience of our team means they can interact with advisers from a position of parity, ensuring our team can lead schemes forward and that we use the advisers to deliver the support to us that we need.

Costs and Efficiencies

We act as “Executive Trustee” working towards the delivery of the scheme objectives. Our trustees will interact with advisers on an equal footing, ensuring your scheme is led by the trustees and the company rather than by other third parties. 

Together with the company, we will develop a project plan to deliver the scheme’s long-term objectives with clear, time-bound actions for each of the advisers. We manage each link in the chain to deliver.

A detailed business plan sets out all the steps needed to deliver the scheme objectives, including all business as usual and compliance requirements as well as the specific actions needed to deliver the overall scheme goals.

Dalriada.Together is built on careful cost management and the efficiencies of consolidation. We use streamlined processes and modern technology to deliver the needs of the scheme and its members.  We use our carefully chosen panel firms of advisers and we manage the panels and the firms on them to deliver the Dalriada.Together services. We accept no surprises from our advisers so that there are no surprises for the company.

We put in place an annual budget for the pension scheme. Budgets are agreed with the company beforehand and we subsequently oversee the management of advisers and other suppliers within those budgetary constraints. We handle all invoicing, providing the company and its finance team with clear visibility of both accrued and expected costs. This simplifies internal reporting processes, alleviating the burden on the company and its finance team.

Conflicts of Interest

Under a traditional trustee board structure, the legal responsibility for the pension scheme sits with the Employer Nominated Trustees (or Directors) and the Member Nominated Trustees (or Directors). This can lead to unwanted conflicts of interest as often the board members also have senior responsibilities and duties to the company. By appointing Dalriada.Together the legal responsibility moves to us instead, removing the potential for difficult conflicts of interest matters.

At the same time, we recognise that the existing trustees have a significant amount of knowledge of their schemes. We value this experience and seek to understand the history and nuances of the scheme as part of our transition process. 

In many cases, we will continue to work with the previous trustees for a number of months after the transition to ensure we capture all the information needed for the scheme. During this period, we can also set up “Pensions Committees” formed of the previous trustee board members and others to support us. Whilst such committees do not have any legal responsibility for the scheme, they can still play a valuable part in ensuring the transition process is successful.

What's next?

Ready to enhance your pension scheme? Explore Dalriada.Together's trusteeship approach that prioritises trust, diversity, efficiency and compliance. Take the first step and contact us today to discuss what we can do for you.