Aon Consulting is offering a pension fund governance service to help company pension plan sponsors and trustees tackle the complexity of complying with governance best practice.
Aon says it has identified ‘Five Pillars of Governance.’ First, business planning and strategy – enabling pension schemes to comply with Myners’ call for better forward planning; secondly, investment and financial – helping schemes to ensure that the advice they receive from external advisers is appropriate and relevant; thirdly, operational – auditing, and where necessary overhauling, operational processes to ensure they are fit for purpose and meet the trustees’ objectives; fourthly, trustee knowledge and understanding – providing comprehensive trustee training to ensure trustees can meet the requirements of their role; and, fifthly, measurement and benchmarking – monitoring progress towards scheme objectives and benchmarking governance performance.
“Governance requirements are not something pension schemes can afford to ignore,” explains Richard Minskip, Head of Benefits Management Consulting at Aon. “Legislative and regulatory pressure to implement a governance framework will only increase in coming months and years – schemes need to take action now. Schemes without proven governance processes leave themselves open to many risks, including litigation, whether arising from members or otherwise. In addition, a poorly-managed scheme without a governance framework may well not retain the continued support of its sponsor. Aon Consulting’s new Governance offering is simple yet comprehensive, based on proven processes and accepted best practice, and can address all governance requirements, from initial audit, through advice on improving performance, to trustee insurance.”