In-depth Market Knowledge & Detailed Review
To be an effective Third Party Evaluator you need to have current knowledge of the industry. At KGC, we pride ourselves on our in-depth market research. We believe we’re best placed to give guidance, advice and recommendations on how best to ensure your current or future service provider delivers the service you require. Our detailed Benchmarking & Market Reviews enable you to demonstrate the good governance and due diligence demanded by TPR.
Benchmarking Reviews
Our Benchmarking Reviews can help you renegotiate your contract and for the current provider to sharpen or reshape its service. We find in longer term relationships, the original service agreement, scope of service and contract often doesn’t reflect the needs of today’s pension schemes. Our market research is unrivalled and covers all the key services a scheme needs, such as actuarial, advisory and delegated investment, as well as administration. We also keep up to date with the Independent Trustee sector.
Monitoring these relationships forms a fundamental part of trustees’ responsibilities. Our expertise enables this to be demonstrated and offer resolution for when issues are found. Wherever possible KGC looks to help trustees and incumbent providers re-shape their agreement and build a stronger relationship for the future. Where this isn’t possible we’re on hand to assist you in finding a suitable new service partner.
Case Study – Large scheme
KGC was appointed to assist the Trustees in carrying out appropriate due diligence of its administration provider. They were happy with the administrator, however recent changes to the scheme caused an impact on service delivery and fees. The Trustees needed to gauge whether the scheme was receiving a value for money service and whether the services being delivered were best practice.
The employer was particularly paternalistic and its culture and values extended to the scheme. One aspect of the paternalism led to an unusual service delivery model, with the provider carrying out pure administration and ancillary services provided by the employer. Prior to undertaking a Benchmarking Exercise the Trustees wished to understand what a modern best practice service delivery model looked like. After assessing the scheme’s existing needs and comparing these to best practice, we recommended a model and a newly defined scope of services capable of delivering the quality and best practice the scheme members expected. This was discussed and agreed with the Trustees as the basis for the benchmarking exercise.
Market Review
There are many reasons why a new service provider or professional adviser may be required. With a wealth of market knowledge and an extensive research process, we have the expertise to manage these selections. We ensure your time is well spent by beginning the process with a shortlist of the best suited advisers for your scheme. We’ll discuss the market players with you and why we believe our recommended short list is an appropriate first match. Early engagement with these providers from the outset optimises time without compromising on your overall objectives. Each stage of the process is documented in detail demonstrating good governance and due diligence obligations are met. KGC’s aim is to match you with the right long term partner, for now and into the future.
Case Study – Charity Scheme
We were appointed to help select a new full service provider (actuarial, investment consulting and administration) for a charity’s pension scheme. Like many charities, they had to be cognisant of the costs of running the pension arrangement and the potential drain on the charity’s money. Cost was an important factor within the review, but value for money was a priority. Potential full service providers needed to demonstrate their understanding of the unique requirements charities have as pension scheme clients, the current arrangements in place and the Trustees’ desire for de-risking the scheme in future.
KGC agreed a shortlist of suitable full service suppliers capable of delivering a high quality/good value service within a culture aligned to the scheme. A detailed Invitation to Tender was agreed and issued. We co-ordinated the inevitable flow of questions and answers from the firms involved so they could clearly understand the scheme’s needs. We arranged conference calls with the Trustee sub-committee to enable both parties to gain their first impressions. Once firms’ responses were received, we fully analysed and interrogated their proposals. We produced a detailed Evaluation Document and reported back to the Trustees with our analysis and recommendations. KGC accompanied the sub-committee on site visits to a further shortlist of firms, where the proposed teams were put through their paces. These firms were invited to present to the full Trustee Board where they decided on a preferred provider.
Testimonial
‘The investment in using KGC to help the Trustees through this market review was money well spent. They were professional, efficient and took the burden away from a very busy Trustee board. Yes we were involved but we were confident in the work KGC had undertaken, their research activities meant we could rely upon their suggested shortlist to meet our needs. Their evaluation documentation and reporting was second to none. Like many Trustee boards we have a variety of skill sets, knowledge and experience of different providers, but KGC opened our eyes to the market potential and found us the most suitable solution for us and our members‘.
Mira Mohideen – Head of Pensions, mencap