Trafalgar House, the pensions administration specialist, has urged trustees to make sure they get the most out of their administrator at trustee meetings by asking for strategic input, rather than just service figures.
Michael De Souza (pictured), technical and compliance manager at Trafalgar House, says: “It’s a worrying fact that when it comes to pensions administration, many trustees will simply take a cursory look at the quarterly report and not dig further. This is a wasted opportunity not only to challenge your administrator and hold their service up to greater rigour, but also to invite more input into the long-term strategic plans of the pension scheme.
“Quarterly meetings are a good opportunity to set four objectives for your administrator in the year that have the potential to really improve governance and trustees’ insight into operations. These topics could include presentations about data security procedures, assurance frameworks or asking them to put together a data improvement plan aimed at buy-out.”
De Souza adds: “Administration represents the core of every scheme and impacts all areas – including liability management and scheme strategy. It is therefore important that schemes are maximising the time they spend with their administrators to set meaningful goals that show good governance and proactivity.”
