Dalriada.Together®
Consolidated and simplified governance for your pension scheme
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The Era of Pensions Consolidation with Dalriada
What is Dalriada.Together?Dalriada.Together is a pensions consolidation model that delivers trusteeship, governance, administration and all daily operations associated with the scheme while maintaining control of your investments and scheme journey.
Unlike some other consolidation models, no specific additional contributions need to be made by the Sponsor for the scheme to be a part of Dalriada.Together.
We manage the advisers and other third parties through our carefully selected panels, to deliver their duties to time and to budget. All this to an agreed overall fee.
Running a defined benefit pension scheme is more complicated, time-consuming and riskier than ever. The company bears the responsibility, and the expenses they incur from advisers and other third parties can be extremely high.
Dalriada.Together works with employers and pension scheme sponsors to remove that heavy burden. Through close collaboration and consolidation of services we deliver your pension scheme’s strategic objectives.
The traditional model of a trustee board appointing a range of suppliers and advisers is an inefficient approach for most schemes. Dalriada is in a unique position with access to considerable internal resources, from which we have developed an alternative approach to our appointments.
There are already twenty-five schemes working with Dalriada.Together, all well on their way to efficiently meeting their objectives.Why Companies choose Dalriada.Together when thinking about pensions consolidation
Collaboration
Our experience is that Companies and Trustees have the same overall goal, that is to pay their pensioners the benefits they are entitled to. Dalriada.Together works with you in a collaborative and open manner to achieve this ultimate end goal. We seek to build a strong long-term relationship with the Company as we believe this will maximise the probability of meeting those objectives.
Our market leading software is made available to the whole Together team as well as the Sponsor and their advisers. This deep and true collaboration means all stakeholders are working from the same data set, reducing time spent negotiating a starting position.
Consolidation and Control
We meet the governance requirements for all the Dalriada.Together schemes to the highest standards on a consistent basis. Completing similar tasks for all schemes generates economies of scale and efficiencies.
Unlike a Master Trust or other pension consolidation vehicles in the market, the Company will retain legal control of the scheme. This means it retains its influence over key considerations such as contribution payments and investment strategy. There are no lump sum payments required to be part of Dalriada.Together and investment strategy can operate in the way it has always done.
Consolidation of assets across the Dalriada.Together portfolio provides opportunities to access lower asset management fees across the board, and bring fiduciary management options to schemes where this was once not cost effective.
Cost Savings
We deliver Dalriada.Together to an agreed annual fixed fee. We tightly manage the scope of works for advisers and other third parties. There are no surprises for the Company and there is forward-looking visibility of ongoing costs.
Time Savings
Dalriada.Together helps to remove Company time from the day-to-day running of the pension scheme. Business as usual matters are handled by our team. Dalriada.Together frees up this previously absorbed internal time and employees can focus on delivering in their own day job instead.
The Company’s time spent on the pension scheme will be minimised to strategic considerations, long-term objectives and investment strategy.
Read our case study 'Transformative Collaboration: Achieving Improved Funding Position' to find out how Dalriada.Together successfully overcame buyout challenges, securing full funding and achieving an improved funding position, boosting employer confidence and satisfaction.
The technology, your pension and investment information at your fingertipsOur industry-leading pensions software platform, Mantle, makes Dalriada.Together possible. Integrating actuarial and administration data and processes, it is a powerful tool made available to the whole Together team as well as the sponsor and their advisers.
The information available is superior to anything that has come before. All relevant actuarial and investment data we need to manage the risks you face, the current funding level on various measures (technical provisions, solvency, accounting etc.), current asset valuations and fund performance, membership metrics and cashflow requirements.
Mantle creates a fully automated administration workflow with a ‘right first time’ policy. Automated member benefit calculations occur seamlessly, eliminating the need for unnecessary manual intervention. Combined with automated document production, administration tasks and benefit processing are accurate and efficient.
This releases our administrators to create a compassionate and gentle space to look after members at some of the most crucial times in their lives. Dalriada.Together has technology at its heart supporting our role as trustee and administrator and supporting you to reach the pension scheme’s objectives. The information is at our fingertips.
Details of the serviceDalriada.Together is a pensions consolidation service that spans Trusteeship, Administration, Investment and Governance. Our approach streamlines and optimises these key areas, providing efficient pension scheme management.
TrusteeshipTrusteeship is core to our role at Dalriada.Together. We are a single point of contact for the members, the Company and the advisers. Through our team of accredited professional trustees, we act for your scheme as a Professional Corporate Sole Trustee (PCST).
Our board of trustees mirrors the existing structure with a Chair of Trustees and co-trustees. Full legal responsibility for regulatory compliance sits with our team meaning that the existing trustees can be stood down and the company representatives can now focus their time on their wider corporate responsibilities. This also removes actual or perceived conflicts of interest.
Vassos Vassou - Head of Dalriada.TogetherOur trustees have specialisms in every key area needed to manage a pension scheme. These areas include investment, actuarial, administration, covenant, legal and compliance. Our trustees interact with advisers from a position of parity. The scheme gets the support it needs guided rather than led by the advisers. We accept no surprises from our advisers.
Together with you, we will develop a project plan to deliver your ultimate objective. Setting out all the steps needed to run your scheme successfully. This will include all the compliance and business as usual requirements as well as the activities needed to support the overall ambition.
Cost management and efficiency are at the heart of Dalriada.Together. We employ streamlined processes and modern technology to deliver core pensions consolidation services to your scheme. We proactively agree on an annual budget for the pension scheme with the Company. Our management of all invoicing ensures full visibility for the Company and its finance team regarding accrued and anticipated costs. This simplifies internal reporting processes removing yet another concern.
Secretarial servicesWe prepare agenda packs and obtain input or papers from advisers for Trustee Board meetings. Drafting minutes and summarising the actions approved during each meeting are part of our responsibilities.
We track and report on the budget, meticulously handling costs and invoices received from third parties. Our team of scheme secretaries currently work across all Dalriada.Together schemes which means that efficiencies and economies of scale come to the fore.
Effective System Of Governance - ready on day oneOn transition to Dalriada.Together, your scheme will be fully compliant with the new Effective System of Governance (ESoG) requirements from day one with no need to pay any additional fees to comply.
AdministrationYour members will be at the heart of everything we do. As Trustees we are often frustrated that we are unable to control the ultimate service provided to our members. Dalriada.Together changes this. Using our revolutionary administration platform, we know calculations are accurate on the first attempt, meet pensions dashboard requirements, and provide readily available standard documentation.
This means that when members call us, your scheme administrators have the time to use their experience and expertise to add the human touch.
Key to our successful administration services:
- Transition
We will move the administration services from your current provider to Dalriada.Together. This will involve a detailed project plan run by our dedicated transition manager with no operational impact on the scheme.
- Members
We are judged by the service we provide to members. Our highly experienced administrators handle member queries with understanding and urgency.
- Pensions Dashboard
On transition you scheme is dashboard ready with no further costs to fund the development of technology.
- GMP Equalisation
We have a dedicated team of GMP equalisation experts. Our administration software can deliver all the different methodologies permissible. Additional administration costs for equalised GMP benefits are nil.
Actuarial and InvestmentInvestment performance is the most important factor for the scheme achieving its long-term objectives. Assets performing well will save the scheme and the Company significant amounts of money in the longer term.
Fiduciary management can bring operational efficiency and advisory professionalism. Dalriada.Together’s purchasing power can make this solution economically viable for smaller schemes. We use a panel firm approach for actuarial advice, investment and fiduciary management. Closely monitored with costs tightly controlled.
Our work is underpinned by the single source of truth available to all stakeholders through our Mantle software. Read more about how we can act upon the opportunities the market presents using our dynamic, real-time scheme and market information.
Dalriada.Together - taking the next stepPlease get in touch to find out more about how Dalriada.Together can support you with your pension scheme. We will provide details on the requirements to join Dalriada.Together covering areas such as costs (including potential savings) and the transition process.
We will also introduce you to senior Dalriada.Together team members which will allow the relationship to develop. Fill in the contact form or contact any of the team below directly to find out more.
Your Dalriada.Together Team
The Core Team
- Transition
