On the go: The Wellcome Trust decided to close its two defined benefit pension schemes to future contributions.
The health research charity sponsors the £419.1mn Wellcome Trust Pension Plan and the £342.5mn Genome Research Limited Pension Plan.
According to its recently published 2021 annual report, the Genome Research Limited Pension Plan closed to future accruals on October 1 2021, while the Wellcome Trust Pension Plan will do so from July 1 2022. The latter had previously closed to new members in April 2016.
As of September 31 2021, the two plans had an estimated combined surplus of £145mn.
The trust’s decision was ratified after consultations with staff, who will be able to join its defined contribution scheme instead.
The charity cited “equity” as the main reason for closing the DB scheme and explained that “employees on the same salary should benefit equally from the pension provided”.
“Other key factors taken into account were the relative running costs compared with the DC plan and the long-term exposure to changes in costs (volatility),” the annual report stated.
“The governors and executive leadership team agreed that, although Wellcome can afford this cost, the Wellcome leadership has a responsibility to spend Wellcome’s money equitably, responsibly and fairly.”
This article first appeared on MandateWire.com
