The SEI Master Trust and the National Pension Trust, which is part of the XPS Pensions Group, have become the 14th and 15th DC master trusts to be granted authorisation by The Pensions Regulator (TPR).

The authorisations follow confirmation of the Industry-Wide DC section of the Railways Pension Scheme’s and Aon’s master trust approvals last week (6 June), and means that there are approximately 24 master trusts awaiting authorisation, according to TPR’s latest published figures.

Commenting on SEI’s authorisation, SEI Master Trust chair of the trustees, Allan Course, said: “We are delighted to have our authorisation confirmed by the regulator.

“However, as trustees, our role extends far beyond meeting regulatory requirements. Throughout the authorisation process our primary focus remained on delivering the best possible outcomes for the thousands of members for whom we are responsible.

“We have continued to challenge ourselves, our advisers and our specialist providers to enhance and develop every aspect of the master trust in order to achieve this.”

On XPS’s approval, National Pension Trust chair of trustees, Ian Davies, added: ‘’The authorisation process has been a significant undertaking and involved a tremendous amount of collaboration between the trustees, our funder XPS, our strategists and our administrators.

“I was always very confident in the strength of our governance and the quality of our people, proposition and processes and it is gratifying to have achieved authorisation and have that formally recognised.’’

The SEI Master Trust and the National Pension Trust join Aon, the Railways Pension Scheme's DC, the BlueSky Pension Scheme, The Crystal Trust, Fidelity, Legal & General WorkSave Mastertrust, Legal & General WorkSave Mastertrust (RAS), LifeSight, Mercer Master Trust, The Pensions Trust (TPT Retirement Solutions), Standard Life DC Master Trust, Stanplan A and the Universities Superannuation Scheme.

Amid the ongoing master trust authorisation process, healthcare cash plan provider, Medicash, transferred its £20m defined benefit pension scheme of around 174 members into the TPT Retirement Solutions DB Master Trust.

Medicash CEO, Sue Weir, commented: “TPT’s DB Master Trust provides a full-service package for a DB scheme including trusteeship, administration, covenant, legal, actuarial and investment services.

“The transfer will improve the security of our members benefits by enhancing the scheme’s governance, gain access to a more diversified range of assets through the £9bn of DB assets that TPT has under management, reduce running costs and ensure our members will continue to be well looked after.”

Share Story: