OREANDA-NEWS. Aon Hewitt, the global talent, retirement and health solutions business of Aon plc (NYSE:AON), has announced the launch of The Aon MasterTrust, completing the company’s line up of services for the UK’s defined contribution (DC) market.

The Aon MasterTrust will be targeted at occupational trust-based pension schemes – initially of a minimum size of ?20 million – which no longer want to deal with the burden of today’s regulatory compliance but who also want to offer their members a modern, professionally managed scheme with a competitive drawdown solution.

Sophia Singleton, partner and head of DC Consulting at Aon Hewitt, said:
“Running a pension scheme is not getting any easier – in fact, it’s getting increasingly onerous, complex and costly. With the launch of The Aon MasterTrust we have aimed to deliver a solution which offers employers the best of both worlds – a trust-based approach which is outsourced to experts. We are also fulfilling an increasing demand; responses to our upcoming DC survey showed that almost 10% of schemes expect to convert to a master trust over the next five years.

“By launching Aon MasterTrust we are also completing Aon’s range of DC services – advisory, investment only, bundled services, contract-based and now a master trust. The new pension freedoms have also increased demand for decumulation solutions so now is the perfect time to launch our product which includes in-built drawdown.”

Sangita Chawla-Jopling, partner and head of DC Product at Aon Hewitt, said:
“We believe the benefits of the master trust approach are considerable.  As a multi-employer scheme, The Aon MasterTrust allows schemes to reduce their governance burden while retaining strong and independent management. It also allows employers to shed the responsibility of legacy trust schemes without relying on member consent, but offers the opportunity to deliver a better employee experience and better value for members, courtesy of the master trust’s scale.”

Key features of the Aon MasterTrust
•    A consolidated governance model to reduce costs and risk while retaining management and oversight by an independent professional trustee board
•    Service delivered by  teams of experts covering investment, administration and communication
•    Leading edge investment options, backed by global DC investment expertise
•    A fully packaged solution delivering a better employee experience through strong member engagement and customer service, market leading financial aggregation tools and superior investment solutions
•    Easier retirement decision making for employees through a built in drawdown option and retirement support
•    Ability to consolidate legacy assets
•    Demonstrable value for money for members through greater scale
•    Provides future proofing through ongoing innovation and development
•    A fully automated auto-enrolment solution


Experienced trustee board
The Aon MasterTrust will benefit from a board of trustees which is independent from Aon and which will oversee all participants’ sections of the master trust.

To achieve this, Aon has brought together a three person trustee board of the highest quality and experience; chairman Roger Mattingly of Pan Trustees will act as chairman, alongside, Nicki Mortimer of Capital Cranfield and Kim Nash of PTL. Their key purpose is to ensure the best interests of scheme members by working with the Aon MasterTrust team and providing an independent view of the master trust’s operation.

Roger Mattingly, chairman of The Aon MasterTrust trustee board, said:
“The Aon MasterTrust will provide an excellent alternative approach for many pension schemes seeking the economies and benefits of scale, as well as relief from the increased weight of regulation borne by today’s schemes.

“As trustees we will ensure that members’ interests are looked after and that they can be confident their views are pursued without fear or favour. We will be an independent body but will work closely with the Aon team to ensure the best results for all scheme members.”

Sangita Chawla-Jopling said:
“We wanted The Aon MasterTrust trustee board to be composed of high calibre independent professionals, so we are very pleased that Roger Mattingly, Nicki Mortimer and Kim Nash have agreed to take on the roles. I am confident that they will provide the knowledge and the independent approach that will challenge us to provide the best possible service.”