Master trust Smart Pension has taken a step towards its goal of £10bn in assets by 2026 with the acquisition of the WS Stakeholder Pension Scheme, the first time it has taken on a contract-based defined contribution (DC) scheme.
Smart announced today that it has acquired the £580m pension scheme from Waystone Management, a service provider for the asset management industry. Its 19,000 members have all been transferred to Smart.
Chief executive officer Jamie Fiveash indicated that Smart was on track to hit £10bn in the first half of next year through a combination of new business, regular contributions, and “secured acquisitions”, including the completion of its deal to take on the Options Workplace Master Trust.
Announced last year, the Options deal is expected to conclude “in the coming weeks”, Smart said in a press release, bringing on board 300,000 members.
“This latest deal is a significant milestone in our growth strategy and consolidation efforts. It’s further proof of how our technology enables us to consolidate schemes of all types across trust and now contract-based pensions.”
Jamie Fiveash, Smart Pension
The master trust said the deal was “the first of a new wave of potential consolidations”, including contract-to-trust transactions. The Pension Schemes Bill contains measures designed to make such transactions easier as the government pushes for master trusts to achieve “megafund” status.
Smart now has £8.5bn in total assets under management following the acquisition, making it the eighth largest DC master trust in the UK.
Fiveash said: “This latest deal is a significant milestone in our growth strategy and consolidation efforts. It’s further proof of how our technology enables us to consolidate schemes of all types across trust and now contract-based pensions.”
Smart has been the most active of the major master trusts in acquisitions over the past few years, having taken on several smaller providers prior to the WS Stakeholder Pension Scheme.
These include the £750m Crystal Master Trust in 2023, the £158m Ensign Master Trust in 2022, and the £200m Welplan Pensions Master Trust in 2020.
