Pension Management and Governance

Companies and trustees are faced with an increasing number of financial and operational challenges in the day-to-day running of their schemes.

The difficult economic environment of recent years, increased focus from the Pensions Authority, new EU Pension Directives, plus the continued management of pension scheme deficits, have heightened the need for holistic financial management planning.

For those offering defined benefit (DB) or defined contribution (DC) pension arrangements, we work with you to ensure an effective management and governance structure exists. This includes understanding the aims and objectives of your scheme, or schemes, supporting the development and ongoing monitoring of risk controls, providing benchmarking of best practice in other schemes and ensuring pension scheme trustees have the required level of training and knowledge required by regulation.

We also assist in developing suitable journey plans, bringing together longer-term funding and investment plans for your DB arrangements.

Pension scheme governance has become increasingly onerous in recent years. One of the key changes is the introduction of a new EU Pensions Directive, IORPs II. We have developed a tool, Governance Lens, to allow sponsors and trustees assess how the governance of the scheme compares to the requirements of IORPs II and what changes are required.

At Willis Towers Watson we offer unrivalled experience of providing the solutions companies and trustees need to ensure good management and governance, enabling them to meet their financial and regulatory obligations. Experience shows there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution, and at Willis Towers Watson we work with you to develop tailored solutions meeting your organisational and scheme’s requirements, aims and objectives.

Willis Towers Watson helps clients develop a pension scheme management and governance framework which includes:

• A financial management plan that can be tailored for each scheme
• Longer-term journey planning, investment and settlement solutions
• Advice on governance requirements including compliance with IORPs II
• On-going training and education, providing updates on latest issues and bespoke material.