News of the first superfund pension deal between Clara and the Sears Retail Pension Scheme is unlikely to trigger a wave of similar deals, RSM UK head of pensions, Ian Bell, has said, despite some industry expectations to the contrary.

Clara Pensions announced earlier this week that it had reached an agreement with the trustees of the Sears Retail Pension Scheme, with around 9,600 members set to be transferred to Clara Pensions, in the UK’s first defined benefit (DB) superfund transaction.

Some industry experts suggested that the "historic" deal could act as a catalyst for "transformative change" in the pensions industry, with LCP estimating that there could be £5bn or more of further superfund transactions in the next few years.

However, RSM UK head of pensions, Ian Bell, said that the deal is "unlikely to be the trigger for many other schemes to follow suit as the fundamental hurdle of trustees’ fiduciary duties and ensuring that decisions are taken in the members’ best interests will remain a challenge for many."

Bell acknowledged that there is likely to be more updates on the Mansion House reforms in the Autumn Statement, suggesting that the deal is “likely to be quoted in glowing terms as the start of the route to wider consolidation of the industry”.

Despite this, he again suggested that that most trustees are unlikely to be looking at the deal on this basis.

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