Pensions Corporate Consulting

Employers are being presented with a growing range of solutions to help them to optimise their retirement programmes. We work with clients to pinpoint the right actuarial approach, taking a wide range of issues into consideration, from funding and investment to governance and employee engagement.

Efficient administration underpins every successful pension scheme. WTW has a rich history of providing quality administration consulting and solutions to many of the world’s largest and most complex organisations.

The introduction of auto-enrolment was one of the biggest changes to private pension provision in living memory. The Department for Work and Pensions estimated that up to 11 million employees were affected by auto-enrolment, either by joining or saving more. This accounts for a third of the UK's labour force.

Climate change poses global, systemic risks that will affect every part of the economy. As key long-term investors and significant participants in the financial system, it is important that trustees and sponsors of pension schemes consider the implications of these risks for their pension arrangements and the part they can play in responding to the challenge.

Collective defined contribution (CDC) pension schemes allow savers to pool their money into a single fund which pays annual pension income. Pension increases vary depending on the funding level, so costs are fixed for employers, while higher member pensions are expected than under traditional defined contribution (DC) annuities.

OneDB has a powerful, reliable software platform which gives trustees and sponsors access to their pension scheme status in seconds. The OneDB software clearly sets out the progress on each scheme objective, while also allowing trustees and sponsors to take a deeper dive into each area via our ePA administration and Asset Liability Suite software, which is included within our core offering.

WTW’s specialist defined contribution (DC) consulting team advises on all aspects of DC pensions and broader financial wellbeing. Our purpose is to improve financial outcomes for individuals by providing best in class advice and solutions to employers, fiduciaries and employees in respect of their workplace savings.

LifeSight^® is WTW’s defined contribution (DC) multi-employer pension trust for employers who would benefit from high-quality, lower risk, market-competitive pension provision without the governance burden.

We focus on the delivery of high quality, best practice exercises for companies and trustees who recognise the need to provide additional member options and/or to improve awareness and understanding of existing options.

To effectively engage and influence, it is critical to understand who you are communicating to and the information that is likely to be of greatest interest. This makes the ‘what’, the ‘when’ and the ‘how’ relevant. Through data analysis, research, and external and internal cultural insights, we help clients to understand their audiences better to make communications more effective.

We help you identify shortfalls in your electronic member data and resolve pension data issues to help address business needs and objectives.

We are living in uncertain economic times. Companies are rightly making the prudent financial management of their pension arrangements a focus. WTW offers creative solutions to well-trodden pensions funding problems. We advise on a multitude of funding issues and keep you apprised of all the latest regulatory developments.

Good governance is the foundation of a well-run pension scheme and leads to better outcomes for members, trustees, and sponsors. Willis Towers Watson has been working in partnership with pension scheme trustees and sponsors for over 40 years, providing expert governance consulting and operational support.

Company pension schemes can be pivotal issues in merger and acquisition deals. WTW will help you to identify the risks, support you through the process, and guide you towards achieving the best possible outcomes.

Most employers with an open defined benefit scheme have re-examined their existing arrangement in recent years, as costs have been driven up by a challenging economic environment, longer life expectancies and more regulation. At the same time, the UK pensions landscape has evolved, introducing new, more modern opportunities for providing pensions. At WTW, we can help you evaluate all of the options available to you in order to find the right way forward.

We have a team of dedicated project specialists, who are also experienced pensions professionals. They have a unique blend of technical, actuarial, consulting and administration experience with industry recognised qualifications and extensive project management experience. They use their technical expertise to plan and deliver high value, complex projects effectively and efficiently.

WTW’s specialist Transactions team has unrivalled experience of working with clients who are looking to purchase bulk annuities and longevity swaps. It’s a busy market and we have been at the forefront, driving innovation for large and small transactions.

WTW is unique in the marketplace in that we have a dedicated provider research team whose sole responsibility is to analyse and monitor the defined contribution (DC) market.

WTW’s retirement support service for corporate pension schemes is called Retire Able. Retire Able gives your members everything they need to confidently make an informed decision on how to fund life after work.

Superfunds open up a route for schemes to continue without sponsor support in order to reach their end goal – be that buyout or self-sufficient run-off. Continuing can mean that member outcomes are materially better than they would otherwise have been. Over time, superfunds should also become efficient vehicles for small pension schemes looking for lower costs and access to optimised investment strategies