In 2021, the Pensions Regulator (TPR) launched a campaign calling on the pensions industry to go further in protecting scheme members from scammers. In particular, TPR wants the pension industry to make a pledge to combat pension scams (called the “Pledge”) by committing to six key principles and taking action to follow the principles of the Pension Scams Industry Group (PSIG) Code of Good Practice.

Hymans Robertson has signed up to the Pledge as we feel that it is essential that the pensions industry does all it can to protect its members from scams. We are fully committed to playing our role at the forefront of this battle and helping stop the scammers in their tracks.

As part of the Pledge, Hymans Robertson specifically committed to:

• raising awareness with clients and scheme members of the risks of scams;
• educating ourselves on best practice due diligence for transfers; and
• doing all we can to protect members in the schemes we administer.

We have incorporated all of the enhancements from the Pledge and the PSIG Code of Good Practice and any changes required from the Pensions Schemes Act 2021 into our transfer processes. This helps ensure that additional due diligence checks are performed before a transfer can be processed and that we communicate the risks of scams, and the steps to take if there are concerns, to our members.

Now that we have all of our new procedures in place, we are delighted to announce that we have self-certified and confirmed to TPR that we meet the principles and requirements of the pledge. We encourage you to sign up to the pledge if you haven’t already and we also recommend you and your team members undertake the related training, called the Trustee Toolkit.

Together, lets do all we can to stop fraudsters and scammers in their tracks.