The Broadcasting Support Services Pension Scheme has become the latest pension scheme to exit the Pension Protection Fund, thanks to the rising value of its assets.
This comes 10 years after the employer went int liquidation, putting its pension into the PPF, the industry’s lifeboat pension scheme. But it has now been able to complete a £6m buy-out with Aviva, securing a higher benefit levels for its members.
This was a result of the scheme’s assets rising sufficiently to be able to secure at least PPF-level benefits for the remaining 59 members.
First Actuarial partner Keith Williams says: “We were the longstanding scheme actuary and administrators. When the problems of the sponsoring employer became apparent to First Actuarial and the trustee, BESTrustees, we took action to de-risk the investments. That turned out to be the first step in protecting members’ benefits.”
Once the scheme came out of PPF assessment, First Actuarial and BESTrustees drew together all the available assets to secure member benefits in a buy-in with Aviva. They then prepared the scheme for buy-out, and used a payment from the insolvency practitioner to secure additional member benefits over and above the PPF entitlement.
Ann Rigby of BESTrustees, says: “This is a great result for the scheme members and shows what can be achieved for smaller schemes when working closely with advisers committed to doing what is in members’ best interests.”