The Wolseley Group has selected the Aon Master Trust as its new pension provider.
Wolseley, one of the top retailers of plumbing, heating, cooling, and infrastructure in the UK, oversees a defined contribution (DC) plan worth £230 million and has more than 13,000 members. The company selected Aon for its master trust services, which also include integrated life insurance broking, administration, and claims settlement, following a thorough bidding process headed by Vidett (previously Punter Southall Governance Services).
The Wolseley Group reward manager Ant Donaldson says: “We really wanted to focus on optimising outcomes for our members, so we spent a lot of time on comparing investment performance and strategies, supported by specialist consultants. We also looked at the support given, plus the range and accessibility of the different options available when members come to access their benefits – together with ongoing engagement with members throughout their pension journeys.
“Aon stood out in those analyses and then followed through by supporting every step of our transition, including working alongside us throughout our all-colleague consultation, providing clear and engaging communications, including a series of presentations and webinars. It then put in place a joint post-implementation communication plan to deliver a step-change in members’ engagement with their Wolseley pensions.
“We monitor progress through a series of monthly and quarterly meetings, and I’m happy to say that we’re delighted by how well all aspects of the transition and subsequent bedding-in have gone, and we very much value the ongoing support provided by the team at Aon.”
Aon DC solutions in the UK head of clients Louise Wheeler says: “Wolseley’s values are built around exceptional service for their customers and nurturing their employees. This matches Aon’s approach to caring for our clients and their members, and so we were thrilled that we were able to work with Wolseley and work so closely together to deliver fantastic engagement levels in the Aon MasterTrust.”
Aon partner and EMEA DC solutions leader Tony Pugh says: “Alongside looking for a pension provider that would work closely with them, Wolseley needed to ensure the ongoing efficient management of their staff death-in-service benefits. Aon was already building life assurance master trust solutions to meet a wide range of client needs, so we were able to accelerate the delivery of these to provide Wolseley and its employees uninterrupted cover via our fully outsourced solution.”
