The Vodafone Defined Contribution (DC) Pension Plan has completed the largest-ever transfer of an unbundled DC scheme to a master trust, with £1.4bn of assets transferring to LifeSight master trust, according to Willis Towers Watson.

The advisory firm said the move followed a strategic review from the scheme’s trustees, which concluded that the default investment strategy should be targeted at providing greater flexibility for members at retirement and that members would be best served by a specialist master trust that could deliver a range of targeted investment strategies and provide value for money.

Vodafone head of pensions and benefits, Kate Grant, said: “LifeSight has particularly strong financial wellbeing and savings consolidation tools, which we feel are increasingly important in the DC market as members have more options and are faced with more decisions on how to manage their retirement savings.”

Vodafone was also reportedly motivated by a desire to provide more environmental, social and governance (ESG) fund options for members.

Willis Towers Watson said LifeSight’s combination of ‘freestyle’ ESG fund options and its incorporation of ESG into its primary default funds was therefore a significant factor in its selection.

LifeSight managing director, Fiona Matthews, said: “Vodafone was really focused on ESG, high-quality governance, online tools to help engage members and financial wellbeing, so we were delighted that LifeSight’s commitment to these areas matched Vodafone’s expectations.”

The addition of Vodafone’s assets and 45,000 members brings LifeSight’s membership to 200,000 with £8bn of assets under management.

Following the switch, over 70 per cent of Vodafone employees have logged into their new LifeSight account.

LifeSight trustee board chair, Jane Platt, said: “The engagement levels we’ve seen so far from members has been very encouraging and we will continue to work closely with Vodafone, and its employees, to make sure that their LifeSight experience is as positive and engaging as it can be.”

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