Debra Soper

Trustee Director

Contact Information

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Debra has over 35 years’ experience of diverse experience across TPA, in-house and advisory settings. She is proficient in pension policy, administration, governance and technical aspects, having held prominent roles such as Director of Pensions and COO for the civil service, followed by Director of Pensions at Capita.

Debra has extensive experience managing in-house administration for a £1bn+ DB pension scheme and a £100m+ DC pension scheme, alongside various medical and life assurance policies. As Scheme Secretary and governance lead, she emphasizes strong governance to minimise operational risks for trustee boards.

Her expertise includes developing policies and protocols for efficient pension scheme management, with a focus on project management, risk assessment, compliance, and relationship management. Debra has worked with both DB and DC Trustee Boards on complex issues such as ETV exercises, Master Trust selection, GMP reconciliation, and outsourcing administration.

Notably, she excels at building stakeholder relationships to resolve complex challenges and enhance governance efficiency through improved reporting and delegation systems. Debra is committed to ensuring compliance with high governance standards set by regulators like TPR and FCA.

  • DB/DC/Master trust Scheme Management
  • Group Life/Life Assurance expertise
  • Operational and risk management
  • Pension Scheme Administration
  • Pensions Policy & Procedures
  • Project Management
  • Public and private sector expertise
  • Relationships & Conflict Management
  • Scheme Secretarial & Governance
  • Led a number of in-house operations for 3rd party providers, covering 1 – 450 clients.
  • Led public sector Civil Service team as Director of Pensions. Responsible for in excess of 450,000 members for administration, engagement, Board secretariat and also ensuring solutions in place for McCloud judgment.
  • Providing scheme secretarial / governance services for both DB & DC schemes fund sizes ranging from £50m to in excess of £1bn.
  • Coordinating provision of actuarial, investment, administration, communications, legal services for both DB & DC Schemes.
  • Skilled transformation specialist for both in-house and 3rd party.
  • Strong relationship with tPR working on both DB & DC Schemes.
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