The co-founders of The Pension SuperFund (PSF), Edi Truell and Luke Webster, have launched Pension SuperHaven, an occupational pension scheme.

The scheme will accept transfers in from individuals’ pension pots and intends to provide members with a pension for life while sharing the investment performance of the scheme.

Pension SuperHaven said it was already in discussions with “multiple companies and funds of significant size”.

It has launched a ‘rescue proposal’ for former British Steel workers affected by the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) scandal, whereby the closure of the scheme led to thousands of former members receiving unsuitable advice to transfer their benefits out of the scheme.

The new structure could offer scandal victims the chance to move their remaining pension pots to an occupational scheme, Pension SuperHaven said, in what it described as essentially a ‘reverse transfer’ from a personal pension pot into a defined benefit (DB) scheme.

The scheme said it envisages working with the Financial Conduct Authority, Money and Pensions Services, Financial Ombudsman Service, and The Pensions Advisory Service to ensure impartial guidance is given to those who transferred out of the BSPS.

“Over the past 18 months, the Pension SuperHaven team have been working tirelessly behind the scenes with both regulators and representatives of the British Steel workers to deliver a much-needed solution,” commented Pension SuperHaven co-founder, Edi Truell.

“We are now delighted to be able to provide the backstop ‘safety capital’. We are confident that Pension SuperHaven will provide proper comfort to many ex-steelworkers after this long-standing debacle as well as for other companies in the market.”

Pension SuperHaven said it will offer a simple and straightforward benefit schedule, with members eligible to participate in its member ‘shared outcome’ arrangements where they share in the investment performance of the scheme.

The scheme is backed by capital provided by ‘pension experts’, with 21 per cent of the capital coming from UK charity, the Truell Conservation Foundation.

There is a capital buffer, which is topped up by The Pension SuperFund.

Pension SuperHaven has been registered with HMRC.

However, a spokesperson for The Pensions Regulator said that it "had not assessed or provided regulatory approval for the new Pension SuperHaven model".

"We support innovation in savers’ interests but will need to be assured by any new market entrants that savers are protected," they continued.

"As we work through with other government bodies to determine whether it should be treated as a pension rather than as an annuity and if so what protections it requires, we are not in a position to confirm that this model offers sufficient saver protection at this point.

"We would not expect individuals with DC savings to transfer into this solution.”

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