Pension Scheme Services

Audits

Occupational Pension Schemes today are subject to complex and often onerous regulations. Paying contributions on time, meeting legal responsibilities, monitoring investment performance and communicating with members are just some of the key issues faced by trustees running such schemes.

Ensuring a scheme is run in an efficient and legal manner can be a very demanding exercise for the trustees and one that usually requires professional advice.

Led by Howard Ringrose, our Pension Scheme Audit Department provides a range of helpful and relevant services for a substantial portfolio of clients nationally. Our current clients range from Small Self Administered Schemes (SSASs) with only a few members to large Final Salary schemes with over £100m of Net Assets.

Typically, the work our professional team would carry out for trustees includes preparing and auditing annual accounts in line with the latest recommended practice, checking that contributions due have been properly paid, reviewing scheme compliance with current rules and regulations and providing trustees with relevant training.

For a free informal discussion on the running of your Occupational Pension Scheme and how our team can help you, please contact Howard Ringrose. Upon receiving a few basic facts about your scheme we would be delighted to provide a fixed fee quote for our services, which we trust you will find competitive and excellent value.

For further information, please contact:

Howard Ringrose
Tel: 0114 2667171
Email: howard.ringrose@bhp.co.uk

Employer Covenant Reviews for Defined Benefit Pension Schemes

Trustees of all occupational pension schemes providing defined benefits are now required to perform regular reviews of the financial strength of the sponsoring employer to ensure that it can meet its obligations to the scheme.  These are referred to as Employer Covenant Reviews. 

Barber Harrison & Platt have put together a highly experienced team from our Pensions and Corporate Finance departments which can assist Trustees throughout the United Kingdom in meeting their obligations in this area.

An external Employer Covenant Review provides Trustees with an independent assessment of the financial position of the employer and the risk that it may be unable to meet its obligations to the scheme.

An independent covenant review will be beneficial to the Trustees in their negotiations with the employer by providing guidance on what the employer can afford to pay and over what timescale.

It will also assist the Trustees in considering whether steps should be taken to reduce the level of the risk-based Pension Protection Fund levy.

We are able to provide Trustees with a range of specialist support services including:

  • a Desktop review, based on publicly available information
  • a Detailed review, involving the review of confidential company management information
  • assisting with the trustees' ongoing monitoring of the covenant
  • a review of proposed transactions eg company merger or other corporate transactions
  • assistance with the negotiation of a recovery plan.

For further information, please contact:

Philip Allsop – Partner, Audit and Forensic
philip.allsop@bhp.co.uk

Howard Ringrose – Head of Pension scheme audits
howard.ringrose@bhp.co.uk

Stephen Ingram – Partner, Corporate Finance
stephen.ingram@bhp.co.uk

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