The pension landscape in the UK has evolved over the last five years with an increasing number of companies choosing to close their Defined Benefit schemes in favour of a Defined Contribution (DC) scheme.

Employers who have made the decision to move to DC are faced with complex decisions around the level of support and oversight they should provide to employees.

Many companies want to provide strong oversight and desire the governance provided by a Trust based DC solution, yet the regulatory pressures and increase in responsibility make it difficult to recruit and retain Trustees with the proper level of knowledge, commitment, and expertise. This has resulted in a trend to outsource responsibility to employees, via a Contract based DC solution, which provides minimal guidance for members. In some cases, this trend has lead to confusion and inappropriate employee retirement planning decisions.

Of the two options currently available to employers, Contract based and Trust based DC, neither address all of the challenges faced by employers or their members. At SEI we believe there is a better way to structure DC: SEI’s DC Master Trust solution. This solution combines the positive elements of both the Contract and Trust structures and is designed for employers who wish to provide, rather than merely facilitate, pensions, without the burden of internal governance.

The SEI DC Master Trust offers:

-          A fully bundled, best of breed solution

-          An outsourced Trustee Body that offers governance without the burden of trustee responsibility

-          First class investment options

-          A single point of accountability

-          Innovative and engaging member communications and education

-          Superior client service