LONDON, May 25, 2021 – Ricardo Plc, the global strategic engineering and environmental consultancy, has moved its 2,500 UK defined contribution (DC) pension scheme members, and £125 million in assets, from the Ricardo International Pension Scheme into the LifeSight master trust.
Formerly operating a single-employer trust scheme, Ricardo selected LifeSight in September 2020 to take over its UK DC pension scheme, following a competitive tender. After a period of consultation with affected employees and integration, LifeSight went live for their employee contributions in March 2021 and the transfer of £125 million of all members’ assets was completed in April 2021, ahead of schedule.
LifeSight’s introduction saw strong engagement from members, with over 60% of Ricardo’s employees logging into their new LifeSight account following the launch.
The addition of the Ricardo scheme, along with several other recent client wins, brings LifeSight overall to 235,000 members and £10.5bn of assets under management.
Mark Edwards, Group Head of Treasury at Ricardo, said:
“As a consultancy with a focus on precision engineering, the key things that really stood out to us about LifeSight was its commitment to sustainable investing and its ability to build a bespoke service around the specific needs of our pension scheme members. The close support we received from their dedicated onboarding team and experienced workstream leaders at LifeSight led to a very smooth and efficient implementation process and a very positive experience for our members.”
“I felt strongly from the beginning that the culture at Ricardo, its commitment to long-term sustainability and its membership profile, would be a great fit for LifeSight.”
Fiona Matthews | Managing Director, LifeSight
Fiona Matthews, Managing Director of LifeSight said:
“We are so thrilled to have won the mandate from Ricardo, particularly in these challenging times for all pension schemes. Despite our rapid growth, we have been very selective about which companies we work with; this enables us to partner very closely with our clients and deliver a hugely positive experience to all their members. I felt strongly from the beginning that the culture at Ricardo, its commitment to long-term sustainability and its membership profile, would be a great fit for LifeSight.”
Jane Platt, Chair of the LifeSight Trustee Board said:
“We are very excited to welcome Ricardo and its members into LifeSight. The LifeSight Trustee is committed to providing all participating employers with a pension arrangement that has truly robust and independent oversight and we take our responsibility very seriously. Through our tailored approach, Ricardo’s members will have a truly personalised experience, with an opportunity to voice their opinions on our future agenda on important real-world issues directly affecting their retirement savings, such as sustainability. Like our other employers, we know this was a key reason why Ricardo chose to partner with LifeSight.”
LifeSight is Willis Towers Watson’s master trust, a defined contribution multi-employer pension trust for employers who would benefit from high-quality, low-risk, market-competitive pension provision without the governance burden.
Running a defined contribution pension scheme is becoming complex and costly for a lot of employers. Governance is growing ever more onerous and schemes now have the new pension flexibilities to contend with. Companies have struggled to find a high-quality alternative that has their employees’ needs at heart. LifeSight offers the best attributes of a trust in an outsourced arrangement. Our unique solution looks after the day-to-day running of the scheme, whilst an independent trustee board looks after the interests of your members.
LifeSight gives you access to our leading-edge digitalised platform, including the award-winning ageOmeter tool, and administration services. Combined with our proven expertise in investments and communications, LifeSight is the complete package.
Willis Towers Watson (NASDAQ: WLTW) is a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company that helps clients around the world turn risk into a path for growth. With roots dating to 1828, Willis Towers Watson has 45,000 employees serving more than 140 countries and markets. We design and deliver solutions that manage risk, optimize benefits, cultivate talent, and expand the power of capital to protect and strengthen institutions and individuals. Our unique perspective allows us to see the critical intersections between talent, assets and ideas – the dynamic formula that drives business performance. Together, we unlock potential.
