On the go: The Pension Protection Fund has set the ball rolling for a retender of its assessment period trustee panel with a special focus on corporate restructuring and insolvency proceedings.
The pensions lifeboat said it believes a significant proportion of schemes that enter PPF assessment face challenges which could have been dealt with prior to the commencement of the assessment if their trustees had access to the right support and knowledge prior to the event.
It is therefore advocating the appointment of panellists to support incumbent trustee boards by offering specialist restructuring and insolvency advice, relating to the position of schemes, employers and the PPF in the context of possible insolvencies.
The PPF said: “Since these arrangements can have long-term repercussions for schemes’ employer covenants and funding, we believe it is important that trustees have the expertise needed to protect schemes’ interests and maximise the likelihood of delivering a viable employer and scheme at the end of the process.”
The new panel may be more broadly based than just traditional trustees, and could include other professionals who currently provide advice to trustees.
According to the tender document, bidders will have to deliver a wide range of services, including advice and management related to pre-insolvency services such as company voluntary arrangements, restructuring, refinancing, negotiation and transaction management.
To reflect the different skills that may be on offer, the PPF said it expects to appoint up to 10 advisers as part of the panel, compared with up to five for the assessment period trustees panel.
Tenders must be submitted by November 20 2019, with contracts formally starting on April 1 2020 for an initial period of two years.
