Consultancy Services

Transfer Value Exercises
Pension Scheme Deficits - February 2011 Update
Contact
Simon Taylor FIA Simon Taylor FIA /uploads/contacts/contact_21.jpg 6 Crutched Friars London EC3N 2PH 020 7895 7809 0792 054 3015 simon_taylor@jltpcs.com Simon has over 20 years' experience of advising companies and trustees on all aspects of their pension and benefit arrangements. After spending more than 15 years at a competitor firm, specialising in giving advice to pension scheme sponsors, Simon joined what is now JLT Actuaries and Consultants in 2006 and was Head of Corporate Consulting before becoming part of the JLT Group in late 2009. Simon currently sits on the Board and Executive of Pension Capital Strategies with a specific focus on driving sales and introducing new initiatives. His current clients range from FTSE 100 retailers through well known media companies to small family run businesses. Whilst mainly giving advice to companies, he also has several Scheme Actuary appointments which enable him to give more rounded advice to clients. In particular, Simon specialises in risk and liability management and reduction, scheme funding and accounting and benefit design.

Liability Management

Very few Boards are prepared for the way new economic, demographic and regulatory changes have altered the pensions landscape.

Advice, if it comes at all, is delivered via Trustee advisers, who are often conflicted in their views and make recommendations in isolation from wider corporate financial management. In addition, the balance of power with regard to funding strategy - for most schemes how and when to make good a large deficit - has swung strongly towards the Trustees of schemes who are supported by the Pensions Regulator (tPR).

PCS is differentiated by the holistic, independent and corporate-wide view we take.

Managing a range of advisers, and interpreting the often highly technical nature of the advice, is simply impractical for most companies. Boards require, and should be demanding, practical implementation of strategies to deal with pension obligations in the context of the company's overall financial and strategic plans as a whole.

PCS works continuously with private equity houses, corporate lawyers, insolvency practitioners and finance directors and they all tell us that there is a substantial need for specialist advice to companies regarding their pension liability risk. This is not simply a matter of an actuary providing the company with liability numbers; there must be broad base of consultancy as to what to do about it.

At PCS we craft ideas and approaches and distill all the options down into one creative, realistic and appropriate solution.