PSIT appointed to provide Governance Advisory Arrangement to AJ Bell

Topic:

PSGS news

Date published:

Friday, 17 July 2015

PS Independent Trustees (PSIT) has been appointed to provide a Governance Advisory Arrangement (GAA) to SIPP provider, AJ Bell Management Limited (AJ Bell). AJ Bell is one of the UK’s largest providers of online investment platforms and stockbroker services with more than 111,000 clients and assets under administration exceeding £26.1 billion.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) introduced requirements on 6 April 2015 for providers of workplace pensions, including group SIPPs, to establish independent governance committees to assess the value for money of their pension schemes and ensure minimum governance standards are met. These independent committees must challenge workplace pension providers when necessary to improve their products.

Commenting on the appointment, , said:

“Members of a GAA need to have expert knowledge of workplace pensions to be able to assess and make judgements on the value for money of those schemes. The GAA must act solely in the interests of members, which is an extremely important point for raising challenge when it is needed.

We are pleased to be working with AJ Bell and look forward to using our knowledge of defined contribution schemes and our experience, as independent trustees, of working in members’ best interests to ensure strong governance and value for money.”

Richard Taylor, Chief Risk Officer at AJ Bell, commented:

“We selected PS Independent Trustees to provide our GAA after considering a number of different options, including setting up our own Independent Governance Committee, and alternative suppliers. PSIT offered us a cost-effective and pragmatic solution to meet our regulatory requirement and we are looking forward to working with them.”

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