The BTG Advisory Pensions team provide, through covenant assessments and independent business reviews, a financial evaluation of business entities, advising trustees and sponsoring employers on complex employer covenant issues in connection with triennial valuations and corporate transactions to help understand the covenant supporting the underlying pension scheme.
Understanding a scheme’s employer covenant helps provide our clients with clarity and added value, and covers employers of varying sizes and sectors, including subsidiaries of large international listed corporations, SMEs, professional partnerships, trade unions, not-for-profit organisations, and charities.
By undertaking these assessments our clients can obtain advice concerning triennial valuations, providing an understanding of the financial position of the sponsoring employer and identifying the level of contributions the sponsoring employer may reasonably afford. Advice can also be obtained in relation to the consequences of corporate transactions, refinancing or reorganisations and, specifically, advising on detriment and mitigation.
Furthermore, they can provide advice to trustees and sponsors to help assess the likely return in the event of the failure of the employer’s business and can assist with the negotiation of recovery plans. Specialist advice can also be given where employers are facing financial distress, including advising on pension scheme compromises via Company Voluntary Arrangements and Regulated Apportionment Arrangements.
We aim to assist trustees and sponsoring employers by providing an independent analysis, enabling them to carry out their responsibilities for securing the funding of their pension scheme and of its ability to meet the expectations of its members on retirement.
In addition, BTG Advisory can help in relation to pension scheme disputes, including initial complaints under the pension scheme procedure (IDPR) through to disputes heard at court or by the Pensions Ombudsman.