On the go: The Pensions Trust, Fidelity, Standard Life and Stanplan A have gained authorisation from the Pensions Regulator, bringing the total number of approved master trusts to 10.

Among the newly authorised trusts, defined benefit and defined contribution provider The Pensions Trust – run by TPT Retirement Solutions – is one of the largest, with more than 2,600 employers, 222,000 members and more than £1.4bn in assets under management.

The complete list of authorised master trusts that appear on the watchdog’s website are: 

  • The BlueSky Pension Scheme

  • The Crystal Trust

  • Fidelity

  • Legal & General WorkSave Mastertrust

  • Legal & General WorkSave Mastertrust (RAS)

  • LifeSight

  • The Pensions Trust

  • Standard Life

  • Stanplan A

  • Universities Superannuation Scheme

Authorisation creates safeguards around master trusts – which have a total of 14m members – by ensuring they are run by fit and proper people and have the right systems, processes, plans and finances in place.

The process to authorisation is slow, with 28 trusts still awaiting authorisation. Thirty-eight master trusts originally applied for authorisation, while nine schemes have exited the market so far, and a further 34 have notified TPR of a triggering event to exit the market and will transfer their members to an alternative master trust or other appropriate vehicle.

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