Pensions - Articles - Survitec Group Pension Scheme appoints Mercer for de-risking

 The trustee of the Survitec Group Pension Scheme has selected Mercer’s Dynamic De-risking Solution to help manage the scheme to its investment “end-game”, through a strategy that aims to dynamically move the scheme to a fully funded and “de-risked” position.

  

 The trustee of the scheme, which has assets of approximately £43m, has been taking advantage of market rises to de-risk its assets, on an ad hoc basis, for some time. However, the trustee recognised that opportunities between its meetings were not being capitalised upon and that implementation of its de-risking strategy could be made more efficient by delegating certain elements to Mercer.

  

 Mercer worked closely with the trustee to devise a de-risking flight-path which achieved its funding objectives within a risk framework appropriate for the scheme. The trustee also stipulated a number of investment parameters, including passive management of a portion of the scheme’s equities, before implementation of the strategy was passed to Mercer.

  

 David Wilman, chairman of the trustee, commented, “The dynamic de-risking solution offered by Mercer allowed the trustee to retain control of the key decisions for the scheme, whilst ensuring opportunities for the scheme to bank gains and de-risk were capitalised upon.”

  

 “The trustee carried out a significant due diligence exercise before deciding to move to the dynamic de-risking solution, during which the team at Mercer gave us full confidence in the mechanics of the solution and the investment expertise underpinning the construction of our portfolios. The trustee was also comforted by the flexibility in the solution, whereby we are able to revisit the parameters and flight-path on a regular basis but at least annually to ensure it is still appropriate for our needs.”