Atkin trustees, actuaries, consultants & administrators

DB consulting

Scheme Actuarial

We specialise in providing services to small and medium sized schemes which require a more collaborative, innovative and practical approach that relies on a close working relationship with the client.

Our approach revolves around:

• A holistic approach aimed at providing practical advice which is presented in an easy to understand format
• Advice co-ordinated with input from other parties such as investment consultants to take account of the big picture
• Focus on the end goal so no actuarial ‘flights of fancy’
• Working cooperatively with all parties to solve problems
• Taking a step back and looking for innovative ways of dealing with problems and conflicts
• Building strong relationships with trustees to understand their particular circumstances

Our approach to funding is not adversarial and we believe that the best solutions are found if the trustees, company (and actuary!) do not start off from entrenched positions. We believe we can add value by helping the Trustees to devise and implement funding solutions which provide the best security for members, whilst not putting undue strain on the company.

Actuarial Consulting

In our experience, it is in the area of consultancy where substantial fees can arise and such fees are difficult to control because consultancy can be such a moveable feast. Our aim is:

• to support the trustees in ensuring that the scheme is run as efficiently as possible
• to ensure that the trustees are in the best position possible to carry out their trustee duties
• to recognise and report to the trustees potential problems and issues that they need to deal with or be aware of on the horizon

The extent to which consultancy is required varies from scheme to scheme depending on characteristics of each scheme and the extent to which the trustees want or require support. For consultancy, we work on the basis of time spent but, in order to provide trustees with some level of control over consultancy costs, our practice is to set an annual budget within which we will operate.

Our intention is to be pro-active but we are conscious of the need to ensure that advice is targeted to the needs of each individual client so that costs are kept in check. The aim is to ensure that the benefit to be derived from the consultancy advice always exceed the cost of that advice and to do away with any superfluous advice.

We provide a comprehensive range of services including:

• Triennial and interim actuarial valuations
• PPF and solvency valuations
• Setting factors for transfer values, early and late retirement, cash commutation
• Scheme restructure costings
• Advice to scheme sponsors on pension strategy and benefit design
• Public sector pensions advice
• Expert witness, litigation support and second opinions
• Pensions risk management solutions
• Accounting for pension cost