The Pensions Regulator has published new guidance for trustees and corporate advisers, to help them meet new rules on the appointment of fiduciary managers.
From December this year trustees will be legally required to run a competitive tend process to recruit fiduciary managers if their schemes use these arrangements for at least 20 per cent of their funds.
This requirement will also apply to existing arrangement if they have been set up without a competitive tender process.
Trustees will also be required to set strategic objectives for those providing them with investment advice, so that they can monitor performance and measure whether the service represents good value for money.
Fiduciary managers and investment consultants will also have new duties placed on them around reporting charges, fees and performance to make it easier for trustees to compare providers effectively.
Following a consultation over the summer, the final guidance to help trustees meet these duties is now available online, along with the consultation response and the changes made as a result.
It is available at the TPR’s website. The changes follow an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority into the investment consultancy market which found weaknesses, including trustees entering into uncompetitive terms or failing to switch to potentially better providers, because they struggled to compare fees and performance effectively.
