Trustees and sponsoring employers currently face continued pressure over their pension plans with falls in investment values, and increases in liabilities, all at a time when the recession means employers are least able to afford any increase in contributions. Management of pension scheme finances is complex, and historic approaches do not address the problem in an integrated way. The Aon Pension Solution has been created to provide a much needed management framework that ensures pension schemes can take full advantage of all opportunities that present themselves and offer an efficient means of achieving objectives. It brings together Aon’s skills in liability management and investment consulting with Russell’s investment implementation expertise.
Managing director of Aon Consulting's Pension Consulting division, Donald Duval, said: "More than ever, the economic downturn has highlighted the difficulty for trustees in managing pension funds to ensure that members’ benefits are secure, and the burden of contributions to the sponsoring employer is manageable. Pension schemes need a solution which protects them in difficult times, but also a governance model that allows them to take advantage of structural opportunities as they arise. The Aon Pension Solution will meet both these aims, and our partnership with Russell ensures that implementation will be of the highest quality."
Shamindra Perera, managing director of Institutional Investment Services at Russell Investments, said: "We are delighted to be partnering with Aon Consulting. By integrating Aon’s deep understanding of their clients’ needs in terms of pension scheme assets, liabilities and finance objectives, with Russell’s expertise in implementing complex portfolios, Aon is able to deliver an extremely compelling solution.”
Paul Docherty, head of Investment Consulting at Aon, said: "This solution brings clients the advantage of tried and tested skills in all the areas needed to ensure effective management of the finances of their pension funds. No one firm has all these skills, but through this partnership we can bring them all together for the benefit of our clients.”