XPS has launched a funding and investment strategy companion for DB pension schemes; fiduciary management oversight team secures 100th client.

XPS Group has launched a practical guide to help pension scheme trustees and sponsors understand and respond to new funding and investment strategy regulations. The ‘Companion’ was produced in response to these regulations, which XPS said represented the biggest change for UK pension schemes for a generation and would significantly impact almost all defined benefit (DB) pension schemes. The Companion will help schemes set a long-term strategy, covenant considerations, investments, funding and journey planning and includes guidance on fast-track versus bespoke valuations. Meanwhile, XPS's fiduciary management (FM) oversight team has successfully onboarded two Holcim pension schemes, marking its 100th FM oversight mandate. The Holcim pension schemes, with assets totalling over £2bn, appointed XPS after a rigorous selection process managed by Law Debenture and Muse Advisory.

Hackney Pension Fund has partnered with the Local Pensions Partnership Administration (LPPA).

The London Borough of Hackney pension fund (HPF), part of the local government pension scheme (LGPS), will become the 19th pension administration client to partner with LPPA. In the summer of 2024, HPF decided to review its third-party pension administration. Along with other pension administrators, LPPA was asked to submit a proposal detailing its services, values and plans for further enhancing the member experience. HPF evaluated and scored all the proposals it received, and as a result, LPPA was successfully awarded the pension administration shared service contract. LPPA now provides administration services to more than 2,100 employers and 700,000 members of LGPS, police and firefighter pension schemes.

Caravan and Motorhome Club has transferred its pension arrangements to Standard Life.

Standard Life has completed the transition of the Caravan and Motorhome Club pension scheme, with over 1100 members moving to a new contract-based arrangement, the Standard Life Flexible Retirement Plan. The appointment of Standard Life followed a competitive request for proposal, with Foster Denovo Secondsight advising and included an on-site visit to Standard Life's Edinburgh head office as part of the rigorous selection process. Caravan and Motorhome Club pensions manager, Sarah Reynolds, said: "Introducing a new pension provider to employees comes with high stakes, with a successful transition setting the tone for things to come. The importance of getting it right for our organisation can't be underestimated. The team at Standard Life lived up to their promises, exceeding our expectations. The implementation went extremely smoothly due in no small measure to the wrap-around support they put in place. We could not have been more impressed with how they delivered the transition."

Legal & General has launched a digital application process for annuities.

The launch of 'L&G Apply', which will be piloted with select firms, is expected to be more broadly available in the second half of 2025 and was designed to optimise the process so that intermediaries could add greater value for their clients, saving them up to 14 days on each intermediated/advised application. The launch comes as L&G announced a 48 per cent surge in retail annuity sales, totalling a record £2.1bn for 2024, reflecting the sustained interest in this guaranteed-income solution. L&G retail retirement distribution director, Cecilia Furner, said L&G Apply was "set to revolutionise" the intermediary annuity experience with a faster, more efficient, and digitally integrated solution for annuity applications. "This innovative system demonstrates L&G's commitment to enhancing customer and intermediary experiences through cutting-edge technology and digital transformation, reflecting how financial planners work in today's digital age," she added.

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