Paul Tinslay: 3 years of making a positive difference

For those of you that know me well, you will know I joined Dalriada Trustees Limited on the infamous ‘Lockdown day’, 23^rd March 2020. So, what’s happened since my first day as a professional trustee?

Well, I could say nearly 40 password re-sets, 36 payslips, achieved my professional trustee accreditation, recruited some really great people and bored just about everybody senseless on governance, ESoG and ORA. But actually there also has been some really interesting stuff.

For some highlights of my client work over the last 3 years, which in many respects have been unprecedented, I:

• Completed the transition of a DC scheme to a DC Master Trust for a Grammar School.
• Helped lay trustees with a difficult DB valuation, owing to the sale of the sponsor, and was then asked to take over as sole trustee.
• Had a key person risk trigger at a DB & DC client, with the Pensions Manager (PM) needing to take time off at short notice. I dusted off my old PM coat and stepped in to take over the PM’s duties, in addition to my Trustee duties. After the PM recovered she applied for a role in Dalriada and I’m delighted to confirm she is now a colleague!
• Took an appointment for a DC scheme with a DB underpin, with underlying contractual guarantees, dealt with the sale of the sponsor and agreed the valuation.
• Took an appointment to a DC scheme in a little distress that had been trying to wind-up for a number of years. I secured the assets for the members and wound the scheme up.
• Won a tender exercise to a DB client, where shortly after the appointment, the company inadvertently triggered a material detriment event. Mitigation was agreed as a cash injection to the scheme, which now has a very healthy funding position!
• Helped a DC scheme tidy up a past mess and progressed through the process to transition to a DC Master Trust, where I managed to get better terms than the EBC providing the advice. (I genuinely have no idea why any lay trustee board would go through this process without the aid of Professional Trustee.)
• Was recently asked to chair the Risk Management Working Group for two multi-billion DB schemes, in order to establish the ESoG Framework and complete the ORA.
• Most recently, was delivering training to a new client that is an IFA. A very enjoyable day with great team here, with some great views and questions, as fully trained and experienced IFAs would!

And while all of this was going on I wrote the ESoG Frameworks for our trustee appointments and re-designed our client evaluation assessments. I am also very humbled when I’m invited to speak on webinars or at events on pensions matters. I always think the organisers are quite brave in allowing me to hold the spoon.

But for those of you that know me best, know that it’s never about me. One role that I have at Dalriada is that of Deputy Function Head, where, in short, I get to create the environment for my colleagues to succeed. This means that I’ve been able to see all of my colleagues develop and grow, and recruit some more really great people to Dalriada.

Why did I become a trustee? – to make a positive difference. My own ORA currently says ‘doing reasonably well’ (according to my line manager anyway 😊). And I haven’t mentioned LDI once!