Entrust Pension Limited has completed a £70m buy-in with Aviva.

The buy-in was advised by DWF and CMS who assisted the trustee of the Federated Flexiplan No. 1, an industry-wide charity pension scheme with over 200 employers.

While Entrust Pension Limited had set itself a target date of 2019 to secure members’ benefits, it was able to achieve this two years early as a result of its collaboration with the employers’ consultative committee and advisors.

National head of pensions Tim Green led the DWF advising team along with solicitor Jane Lathwood. The CMS team advising on contractual terms with Aviva was led by pensions partner Neil Smith who was supported by associate Thibault Jeakins. Entrust's team was headed by founding director Patrick Kennedy and supported by fellow Director Suresh Bhatt, who also co-chairs the non-associated multi-employer schemes lobbying group.

DWF national head of pensions Tim Green said: "Entrust has always been very clear about the flightpath to securing members' benefits. It is a testament to its stewardship of the plan and to the collaborative approach taken with advisors that the plan has bucked the trend of defined benefit pension deficits, enabling benefits to be secured in full.

“This is a complex pension scheme which has brought with it a number of different challenges; the transaction has highlighted the importance and advantages of working with a highly experienced professional trustee and advisors to successfully achieve a common aim."

Entrust director Suresh Bhatt added: "Through good governance and implementation of innovative strategies developed with DWF, the rate of employer contributions paid on time improved dramatically from 82 per cent when Tim and his team were appointed to close to 100%. This helped to improve funding levels, ensured fairness amongst employers and helped deliver this fantastic result for members."

Against a backdrop of funding uncertainty for many charities, Entrust founding director Patrick Kennedy said: “Our Flexiplan employers can now concentrate on funding hospices, medical research and housing and education projects in the knowledge that their hard working employees’ pension benefits are secure.”

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