Pension Funds and their Advisers

Introduction

Claiming that the previous year has been a turbulent time for pensions is becoming a tired and clichéd statement. another year of hyperbolic headlines in both the pension and national press makes one feel that the furore is no anomaly, and is becoming the norm.

However, it does feel that the storm is beginning to settle, or could it simply be that everyone is becoming accustomed to the motion sickness? if the results of the recent naPF survey are anything to go by, and as Joanne segars points out in her foreword, 61% of open dB plans intend to stay open, then maybe there is still a future for occupational dB pension schemes. it will be interesting to see if the recent slowdown in the economy will produce the same results next year.

The continuing growth of the adviser section of Pension Funds and their advisers points towards the fact that the pension industry continues to be big business. there is an ever growing number of companies who would want the UK’s pension fund managers to believe that going it alone is no longer worth the risk and that outsourcing would be a safer bet, something reflected in Kevin
wesbroom’s article in the pages that follow.

Whatever the levels of doubt over the future are, it can’t be denied that the Bulk annuity Buyout section of this directory, last year a fragile new addition, has firmly taken root and is here to stay. i feel that the section has been further strengthened by the inclusion of the new companies that offer an alternative to a full buyout. also new to this edition is a class action law section, reflecting the recent news of numerous UK pension funds taking legal action in the states.

I would like to thank the various departments at aP information services ltd. who all work hard to keep this publication feeling fresh, and also the numerous contributors: Joanne segars for her foreword, the various authors of the articles, our associates at the naPF, and as always, the
pension fund managers who assist us in keeping the data top notch. however, this year my greatest thanks go to someone who no longer works on the publication.

Alan Philipp has overseen work on Pension Funds and their advisers for the past 31 years and has spent the majority of his professional career ensuring its growth and success, something well documented in the retrospective in last year’s 30th anniversary edition. this is the first edition to
be published without alan in charge, and i would like to thank alan for his help in previous years during the time that i have been responsible for the project he created. i am confident that alan can rest easy knowing that Pension Funds and their advisers will never fail to provide the same level of service it always has done, and that this, and future editions will continue to realise his vision of the efficient provision of relevant and accurate pensions information.