Smart Pension, the acquisitive pension and technology provider, is believed to be in advanced negotiations to purchase the Crystal Trust, the workplace pensions master trust offered by Evolve Pensions.
The news comes as industry experts predict an acceleration in consolidation of workplace pension master trusts.
Sources close to Corporate Adviser say Smart, which bought the Ensign master trust last October, as well as the Welplan Pensions master trust, has agreed terms with XPS for the master trust. Smart also bought the Corpad master trust and the Corporate Pension Trust, which was run by Lighthouse, in 2019. The Smart Pension master trust had over a quarter of a million active members and £2.6bn in assets at the end of 2022. In February 2023 Smart announced more than £5bn total assets on its platform.
Crystal absorbed Evolve’s Bluesky master trust in January 2020, both master trusts having achieved authorisation in 2019.
The news follows earlier reports today that SEI is rumoured to be in the advanced stages of the acquisition of XPS’s £1.3bn National Pension Trust master trust.
One industry expert told Corporate Adviser that more consolidations are expected soon, and predicts the number of authorised master trusts will fall from around 35 today to 25 a year from now.
Smart and Evolve have both declined to comment.