The Pension Superfund has endured a bruising few days, with Alan Rubenstein and Marc Hommel announcing they were stepping down from their roles as chief executive and head of origination.
At the same time The Pension Superfund announced that it had also lost its biggest financial backer, institutional investors Warburg Pincus. These changes come just six months after the consolidator was launched with the remit of pooling assets of private-sector DB pension plans.
The Pensions Superfund is the first DB consolidator. Although the company has yet to buyout any DB schemes it has indicated that a deal is imminent.
But pension experts have said that this change at the helm may cause some pension trustees to “give pause” before selling on their scheme.
Pension Superfund co-founder Edi Truell says the company has a strong proposition, despite these departures. “The Pension Superfund [is] in a position where it is poised to see its first deal submitted to The Pensions Regulator.”
The departures are understood to have been the result of a difference of opinion between Truell and Rubenstein – a former head of the PPF – about the future direction of the business. Truell is also chairman at Disruptive Capital, another financial backer of the Pension Superfund.
Paul McGlone a partner in Aon Hewitt’s retirement practice says these changes may cause concern among some trustees. “These changes are effectively forever, so trustees need to be confident that this is the right move, and this is the right time to take it. A change of personnel at the top and the loss of a backer may cause a few to take stock and pause.”
However he says he did not think it was “unusual” for there to be a longer lead time to the first buy-out deal being announced.
Truell adds: “The positive response to The Pension Superfund showcases the role consolidation can play in providing a solution to the pressing issue of funding DB schemes.”