The Pensions Superfund has named Luke Webster as the replacement for Alan Rubenstein, who announced he would be stepping-down on Friday, September 7.

The Superfund also lost its largest financial backer, Warburg Pincus,head of origination Marc Hommel just six months after the pension consolidator was launched, describing their tenure as a “short transitional period”.

Funding of the business has been taken over by Disruptive Capital Finance, with Warburg Pincus retaining the right to invest as the business grows. Webster is the current chief investment officer of the fund.

Superfund co-founder and chairman of the new financial backer, Edi Truell, said: “I would like to thank Alan Rubenstein, Marc Hommel and Warburg Pincus for everything they have done to bring this innovative solution to market over the last six months.

“We wish them well in the future and part with a strong proposition, a significant pipeline and with the Pension Superfund in a position where it is poised to see its first deal submitted to The Pension Regulator.”

Since its launch in March 2018, securing initial capital of £500m, the fund has marketed itself as an “affordable solution” for defined benefit schemes for whom buyout is out of reach.

“Businesses that are constrained by their pension liabilities have a fundamental need to find a more affordable way to fulfil their promises to pension scheme members, and the positive response to the Pension Superfund showcases the role consolidation can play in meeting that need and in providing a solution to the pressing issue of funding DB schemes,” Truell added.

Speaking in May, Rubenstein said that roughly £500bn of defined benefit liabilities could benefit from consolidation over the next five years.

Despite this, research from Willis Towers Watson found that just one in four pension trustees would feel comfortable judging whether to hand over their schemes to superfunds.

Lincoln Pensions CEO, Darren Redmayne, said: “As with the rapid expansion of the bulk annuity buy-out market in 2006, we expect the pensions consolidation market will also have to work through a few teething issues as new entrants settle on structure and build momentum.”

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