Wind up of a DB pension scheme

The client

A family run retail company which needed to have its defined pension scheme wound up in order to then wind up the company and pay final dividends to the shareholders.

The problem

The pension scheme had been closed to new entrants for more than ten years and to future accrual in 2011. The issue was that the Scheme did not have a journey plan to wind up and pensions knowledge both within the Company and the Trustees needed bolstering. The result was that, when the Company wanted the pension scheme to be wound up, the Trustees were unprepared.

The solution

We were appointed to Chair the Trustee Board and worked with the existing trustees and Scheme advisers to prepare for a buy-out and winding up of the Trust. This meant developing a project plan with different work streams to ensure that there was a controlled process in place and well as to manage the Company’s expectations.

The work streams included:

• Legal
• Administration
• Accounts
• Investment
• Member communication
• TPR

The result

By careful and proactive project management together with the goodwill of all of the stakeholders involved in this, the buy-out was completed within nine months and the trust wound up shortly afterwards. Members had their benefits provided in full and arguably with a provider with a stronger covenant than the company could provide.