What We Do

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What We Do

We help look after your pension scheme by taking on the role of independent trustee in a number of situations:

Chair of trustees: providing leadership and direction for the board in an inclusive manner
Member of the trustee board: as part of an existing board of trustees we will work alongside them. We can help by providing guidance and support.
Sole trusteeship: there may be situations where there is insufficient resource or a lack of candidates for trusteeship where we can step in and provide a costs effective solution for the sponsor and working collegiately with it.
Project management or interim appointments: we can assist the board of trustees to manage a specific issue or appointed for a limited period to deal with, for example, a corporate transaction or reconstruction, a scheme merger or other more complex issue beyond the routine day to day business of the pension scheme.

In taking on an appointment we seek to tailor our service to the needs of the scheme and its sponsor. Not all schemes are the same so it is important to understand what they do, their practices and how they deliver the pension promise.

The multi-hat governance problem

There are many reasons why you may want an independent trustee. One of the reasons is to address the issue of perceived or actual conflicts of interest. Often these are inherent in pension schemes and there is a need for them to be managed. Pension Fund Trustees and pensions management teams frequently wear more than one hat at once – something that is a serious concern for the Pensions Regulator.

Typically the conflicts of interest from this ‘multi-hat’ governance problem can be managed. HAT Trustees is experienced and proficient in finding the most appropriate solution for the parties. Each potential conflict needs to be assessed and a decision taken about how it should be handled.

This may be no more than a disclosure on the basis it is a perceived but non-controversial conflict. On the other hand it may be a real one which could interfere with the decision making process itself. In that situation a more robust way of remedying it needs to be found. There are often several options including the appointment of an independent trustee.

HAT Trustees is accomplished at solving the ‘multi-hat’ problem. We aim to add management value to your trustee body and help deal with the complexities of pensions legislation, bringing to the table our own extensive experience of managing and supporting pension schemes.

What We Do

We help look after your pension scheme by taking on the role of independent trustee in a number of situations:

The multi-hat governance problem

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