Press Releases

Hymans Robertson has appointed Shirley Brown as head of its third-party administration (TPA) practice. She will be taking on the role at the leading pensions and financial services consultancy following the retirement of the current Head of TPA, Gary Evans. Shirley is a Partner at Hymans Robertson, having joined the firm in 2019 as Head of Operations for TPA. She has over 35 years’ experience in pensions and prior to joining the firm, worked for PWC, Buck Consultancy and Barnett Waddingham.

Hymans Robertson, the leading independent pensions and financial services consultancy, has announced several senior appointments, at both Equity Member and Partner level.

Karen Fraser, Julie Hammerton and Paul Waters have been promoted to Equity Member and there have been eight promotions to Partner. 

Commenting on TPR’s publication of EDI guidance, James Smith, Consultant, Hymans Robertson, says:

“It is good to see that TPR has now published this EDI guidance, a topic which did not feature significantly in the draft Single Code of Practice. High quality schemes are however already taking action in this area, integrating EDI into annual effectiveness reviews and constructing plans to widen board diversity and inclusion and to factor member EDI into decision-making. We are particularly pleased to see that TPR has included guidance for employers in addition to trustees and especially a sample job advert for a Trustee...

The With-Profits Market report 2022, has been launched today, by Hymans Robertson. The annual report highlights that Insurers in the with-profits industry are likely to face another challenging year. For many firms this will require a heavy focus on strategic thinking which will be needed, if they are to continue to protect and provide good outcomes for policyholders in the future.  

Commenting on the closed DWP Consultation 'Value for Money: A framework on metrics, standards, and disclosures', Callum Stewart, Head of DC Investment, Hymans Robertson, says:

"Overall, we welcome the DWP’s recommendations and proactive approach to engaging stakeholders as part of this process so far. The overall approach to assessing value requires reform, and we are particularly pleased to see ‘outcomes’ mentioned more than 60 times in this consultation. We wholeheartedly agree that member outcomes should be a primary consideration in the assessment of value, and reflects the approach we adopt through advice and provider assessments...

Commenting on The Pensions Regulator’s (TPR) second consultation on the Defined Benefit Funding Code of Practice (the Code), Laura McLaren, Partner, Hymans Robertson says:

“We broadly agree with the principles outlined in the Code and within the Fast Track regulatory approach. TPR has signalled its direction of travel for some time, and its approach generally seems to strike a good balance between setting out the principles and expectations of the new regime, with providing enough flexibility for schemes to determine long-term strategies which suit their own circumstances. We welcome this flexibility, but we have concerns about several potential inconsistencies with the DWP’s draft regulations. We strongly believe that the final DWP regulations should be less prescriptive to ensure that following the principles in the Code will mean complying with the law...

Risk transfer specialist, Verity Hastie, has joined Hymans Robertson, the leading pensions and financial services consultancy, as a Risk Transfer Specialist. Verity is the fifth experienced hire to join Hymans Robertson’s risk transfer team in the last five months. Between them, Lara Desay, Louise Lane, Paula Haughton, Harry Allen and Verity Hastie have 70 years’ of specialist experience.

Commenting on today’s 0.25% interest rate rise from the Bank of England, Chris Arcari, Head of Capital Markets, Hymans Robertson says:

“Yesterday’s upside inflation surprise, alongside an economy that has shown surprising resilience recently, will have emboldened the Bank of England to raise rates 0.25% p.a. today, to 4.25% p.a.  February’s inflation figures revealed headline inflation rose to 10.4% year-on-year while core inflation, which excludes volatile energy and food prices, rose to 6.2% year-on-year. Market expectations of interest rates have fallen sharply recently on the back of concerns around the banking sector on both sides of the Atlantic, but markets were still pricing a more than even chance of a 0.25% p.a. rise...

Total pension scheme buy-in and buy-out volumes reached £27.9 billion in 2022 according to latest research from Hymans Robertson. Demand for transactions continued to gather pace during 2022 with market volatility resulting in a busy second half of the year and the total number of 2022 transactions was at the highest level for nearly 10 years. Had interest rates been comparable to prior years, then 2022 would have been "close to a record year" for the market, potentially beating the £43.8bn record set in 2019.

Hymans Robertson announces that Jon Hatchett has been appointed to lead the firm from 1 April as he steps into the role of Senior Partner. He takes on the role of heading up the leading pensions and financial services consultancy from John Dickson who, with the rolling tenure of the senior partner role, will be resuming a predominant focus on strategic investment advice across the firm’s clients.

Hymans Robertson, the leading pensions and financial services consultancy, has announced the appointment of both Paula Haughton and Harry Allen to its expanding Risk Transfer team.  

Comments on expanding childcare and the implications for the gender pensions gap, and the abolition of the Lifetime Allowance (LTA).