The Standard Life Master Trust Board

 

Helen Dean

Chair of the SLMTC

I am delighted and honoured to chair the board of SLMTC, this is a highly experienced board with trustees who are committed to looking after the interests of all of the members of the two schemes.

You can read about Helen and all the Trustees below. But first, let us tell you a little more about the Board, and why its role is so important in insisting on quality and value for scheme members.

The role of the Board

The Standard Life DC Master Trust is an award-winning workplace pension solution, approved by The Pensions Regulator and proud to be helping thousands of people save for their retirement.

The role of the Trustee Board can be summarised in four core principles:

  • Ensure the safety of the members' savings

    The Board is responsible for ensuring that the members' pension savings are in a safe place. This doesn't mean that their value might not fall if investment markets do, but it does mean that they are safely protected against fraud, theft or business failure in relation to their Standard Life pension scheme.

    You can read more about this in the Statement of Investment Principles section below.

  • Always consider what's in members' financial interests

    For investments: the Board will take responsibility for investing the members' money, taking into account any investment decisions they have made. If members don't want to make investment decisions, that's fine and the Board will invest their money in the default investment option for the scheme. They will review the strategy and investment performance of the default and will consider members' financial interests when making decisions in relation to the default.

    For costs: the Board will consider whether the charges Standard Life are taking from members' money represent good value for services they deliver. If they do not, their job is to challenge us at Standard Life to improve that value.

  • Listen to members

    The Board actively want and value feedback. They would like members' views on how they feel about their pension savings and the service they receive from us at Standard Life.

    Members are free to email the Trustee Board at any time and we would encourage them to do so - we'd just add that email isn't a secure channel so please ensure they don't include sensitive details.

    These views are an important part of the assessment of good value from Standard Life - the Board will focus on all aspects of the DC Master Trust scheme across its lifetime to try and provide a good outcome in retirement.

  • Listen to you

    As a valued client of Standard Life, your views, questions and comments are welcome, and there are a number of ways in which you can interact with the Board.

    Meeting the Board: The Board invites participating employers to meet them at the Master Trust forum. At these events, they'll provide updates and information and, most importantly, they'll answer any questions you may have, and listen what you have to say about how the scheme is working for you and the members.

    Meeting your business: A Trustee Director can be nominated to attend a governance meeting with you, meaning your team and members can let them know how the scheme is operating for them.

Master Trust governance

At Standard Life, we define governance as standing for who we are, and how we behave. For our Master Trust, we have taken this further and established four pillars to represent our priorities – People, Policy, Management Information and Commercial alignment.

In the table below, you can see exactly where the Trustee Board complements and guides our Master Trust governance principles. It’s there to test, challenge and support you, us and the members

Standard Life Governance
People

The Board are supported by a dedicated Standard Life team, and a broader governance culture, all bringing their collective expertise to bear.
Policy

The Trustee Board keep the Trust Deed and General Rules and Statement of Investment Principles under regular review to make sure they are relevant, compliant with regulation, and applied fairly and consistently
Management Information

Standard Life provides the Trustee Board with a comprehensive data pack each quarter to; help them fulfil their duties, hold us at Standard Life to account, and highlight any areas for improvement
Commercial Alignment

Robust governance helps us to secure a lifetime of possibilities for the Master Trust scheme members. This supports the value of the benefit you provide as their employer

Regular reviews and reports

As part of their governance commitment the Board produces a range of reviews and reports, all of which we will make available to you when you participate in the Master Trust scheme.

Master Trust Quarterly Updates

You’ll receive Quarterly Updates, and their aim is to keep you up to date and informed. So in these, you’ll get an overview of Board actions over the previous quarter, details of administration and investments and lots of other topical content.

Master Trust Annual Report and Statement

An annual publication is the Trustee's Report and Chair's Statement on how the scheme is performing. This includes:

  • Their opinion on whether the members are getting good value
  • Information relating to charges and transaction costs
  • How core financial transactions are processed

Below you’ll find a copy of the latest Trustee’s Report and Chair’s Annual Statement for DC Master Trust. It’s full of useful and interesting details, including the recent history of the Trustee Board members and robust performance reviews.

 Master Trust Chair’s Annual Statement (PDF, 1.03MB)

The statement also includes a dashboard showing the most important performance metrics and how the Master Trust scheme is performing against them.

Master Trust Internal Controls Report

The Board is also responsible for setting the control objectives for the Master Trust. It reports annually on the control activities which help ensure that the objectives are met. The Board also asks an independent firm of accountants to check that the procedures they've agreed with Standard Life are properly carried out.

You can read the latest report below.

 Internal controls for Standard Life Master Trust Schemes Report. (PDF, 4.4MB)

Master Trust Statement of Investment Principles

We’ve said above that ensuring the safety of the members’ investments is one of the core responsibilities that the Trustee Board sets for itself. This is complemented by the Statement of Investment Principles, which sets out the Trustee’s policies when investing the Master Trust’s assets for the members.

This Statement details the principles which govern the decisions about investments that enable the Trust to meet requirements of:

  • the Pensions Act 1995, as amended by the Pensions Act 2004
  • the Occupational Pension Schemes (Investment) Regulations 2005 as amended by the Occupational Pension Schemes (Investment) (Amendment) Regulations 2010, the Occupational Pension Schemes (Charges and Governance) Regulations 2015, and the Occupational Pension Schemes (Investment and Disclosure) Regulations 2018

You can download the Statement below:

 Standard Life DC Master Trust Statement of Investment Principles (PDF, 98.7KB)

Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) report

Following the introduction of climate-related reporting for our master trusts in October 2021, the Standard Life Master Trust Company has made significant progress in implementing and embedding the recommendations of the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (‘TCFD’).

The report covers the year ended December 2021 and has been prepared in accordance with the recommendations of the TCFD. Each report provides further insight on Governance, Scenario Analysis, Risks and Opportunities plus Metrics and targets.

 TCFD report (PDF, 1.9MB)
 

Stewardship Policy Summary

The board of SLMTC (the board) believes that institutional investors bear a responsibility to engage with investee companies to drive better corporate behaviours, which is expected to also lead to stronger and more sustainable financial outcomes for our members.
This policy outlines our definition of stewardship and our commitment to support effective engagement and voting through outsourced activities in collaboration with our insurance provider Phoenix Group, asset managers and service providers.
We recognise our responsibility to hold Phoenix Group, asset managers and service providers to account for the stewardship activities conducted on our behalf.

Read our policy summary

Meet your Trustee Board

Each Trustee is appointed through an open and transparent recruitment process. The men and women who make up the Board come from a variety of backgrounds, but each one has something in common – they’re passionate about doing the right thing for members. We hope you’ll get the chance to meet them in person at one of our future events but in the meantime, here are their mini-biographies – and pictures so that you can recognise them.

Chair of Master Trust Board

Helen Dean

Helen Dean CBE, is one of the architects of auto enrolment, resulting in millions of UK workers saving into a pension for the first time. After studying Psychology Helen started her career at DWP where she developed the policy and legislation for the pension reforms that led to auto enrolment and the establishment of Nest. She then moved to Nest to set up the Nest pension, becoming its CEO from 2015, with rapid growth in members (2 million to over 12 million) and assets (£600 million to over £30 billion). Helen cares deeply about delivering great outcomes for savers through sustainable and responsible investment, connecting with the new cohort of savers generated by auto enrolment and about promoting diversity across our industry. She is a mentor to younger pensions and non-pensions professionals, offering guidance and coaching. Throughout her career Helen has maintained a passionate interest in addressing financial inequalities and promoting financial resilience across society. She is a Governor of the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) and a member of the HMT Asset Management Taskforce. She is also a Trustee and Board member of Step Change, the largest debt charity in the UK. Helen was awarded a CBE in the 2021 New Year Honours list for her services to pension saving. Helen is an accredited professional trustee with the Association of Professional Pension Trustees.

Independent Director

Gurmukh Hayre

Gurmukh is an Accredited Professional Independent Trustee with over 35 years’ experience in pensions and is an Associate member of the Chartered Insurance Institute. He has worked with two leading pension providers followed by more than 25 years in KPMG Pensions Consulting (now Isio) advising both corporate sponsors and trustee boards across defined contribution and defined benefit pension schemes. He has deep experience across all areas of pension scheme governance, risk management, investment strategy and member engagement. He is currently an independent trustee for three Centrica Pension Schemes, Cadburys Pension Fund and Chair of the Atos Retirement Plan. He has been a member of Aviva’s Independent Governance Committee and an independent trustee of the National Pension Trust prior to joining the Standard Life Master Trust Board.

In addition to his pension trustee roles, Gurmukh is Chair of Trustees for Molly Olly Wishes, a charity which supports terminally ill children and their families by granting wishes and other special projects involving children’s hospitals across the UK.

Independent Director

Catherine McKenna

Catherine is a partner at Squire Patton Boggs (UK) LLP, a global law firm. She has over 30 years’ experience in the pensions industry as a qualified solicitor, providing advice to companies, trustees and product providers on a wide range of pension issues and as a trustee and board member. She was the head of Squire Patton Boggs’ award winning pension team for a number of years, leading its approach to client service and responsible for its strategic direction. Catherine is actively involved in the development of pensions policy and regulation. She has been a member of the CBI’s Pension Panel and is an author of and contributor to pension books, numerous publications and responses to the Government’s consultations on pension change. She is a director of Squire Patton Boggs’ independent trustee company and an Associate of the Pensions Management Institute.

Independent Director

Andrew Davies

Andrew is an experienced strategist, marketer and business development professional. His career of over 35 years spans the breadth of Financial Services covering pensions, wealth management, life, healthcare and general insurance. Andrew has held a wide range of senior management positions. Most recently he was Director of Marketing Strategy & Customer Insight for AXA UK & Ireland during which he established their first customer centricity strategy. Whilst Head of Strategic Development for AXA Life, Andrew created the initial strategy, and was one of the founder members of the Elevate investment platform (now ABRDN Elevate). Andrew currently runs his own management consultancy business specialising in strategic change and business transformation as well as training and coaching senior managers. Andrew has qualified as a Chartered Insurer and Financial Planner in addition to holding separate professional Project, Process and Proposal Management qualifications and he is an Accredited Professional Trustee with the Pensions Management Institute. Andrew is also a board director for the Independent Governance Committee (IGC).

Independent Director

Caroline Escott

Caroline is a fully accredited professional pension trustee and has nearly 20 years’ experience in investment and stewardship. She leads the stewardship activities for one of the UK’s largest defined benefit pension funds, is Chair of the Investor Coalition for Equal Votes, Vice-Chair of the Global Investor Governance Network and has won several awards for her ESG and industry work. She was previously Senior Investment and Stewardship Lead at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) and Head of Public Policy at the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association.

Chair of Master Trust Board

Helen Dean

Helen Dean CBE, is one of the architects of auto enrolment, resulting in millions of UK workers saving into a pension for the first time. After studying Psychology Helen started her career at DWP where she developed the policy and legislation for the pension reforms that led to auto enrolment and the establishment of Nest. She then moved to Nest to set up the Nest pension, becoming its CEO from 2015, with rapid growth in members (2 million to over 12 million) and assets (£600 million to over £30 billion). Helen cares deeply about delivering great outcomes for savers through sustainable and responsible investment, connecting with the new cohort of savers generated by auto enrolment and about promoting diversity across our industry. She is a mentor to younger pensions and non-pensions professionals, offering guidance and coaching. Throughout her career Helen has maintained a passionate interest in addressing financial inequalities and promoting financial resilience across society. She is a Governor of the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) and a member of the HMT Asset Management Taskforce. She is also a Trustee and Board member of Step Change, the largest debt charity in the UK. Helen was awarded a CBE in the 2021 New Year Honours list for her services to pension saving. Helen is an accredited professional trustee with the Association of Professional Pension Trustees.

Independent Director

Gurmukh Hayre

Gurmukh is an Accredited Professional Independent Trustee with over 35 years’ experience in pensions and is an Associate member of the Chartered Insurance Institute. He has worked with two leading pension providers followed by more than 25 years in KPMG Pensions Consulting (now Isio) advising both corporate sponsors and trustee boards across defined contribution and defined benefit pension schemes. He has deep experience across all areas of pension scheme governance, risk management, investment strategy and member engagement. He is currently an independent trustee for three Centrica Pension Schemes, Cadburys Pension Fund and Chair of the Atos Retirement Plan. He has been a member of Aviva’s Independent Governance Committee and an independent trustee of the National Pension Trust prior to joining the Standard Life Master Trust Board.

In addition to his pension trustee roles, Gurmukh is Chair of Trustees for Molly Olly Wishes, a charity which supports terminally ill children and their families by granting wishes and other special projects involving children’s hospitals across the UK.

Independent Director

Catherine McKenna

Catherine is a partner at Squire Patton Boggs (UK) LLP, a global law firm. She has over 30 years’ experience in the pensions industry as a qualified solicitor, providing advice to companies, trustees and product providers on a wide range of pension issues and as a trustee and board member. She was the head of Squire Patton Boggs’ award winning pension team for a number of years, leading its approach to client service and responsible for its strategic direction. Catherine is actively involved in the development of pensions policy and regulation. She has been a member of the CBI’s Pension Panel and is an author of and contributor to pension books, numerous publications and responses to the Government’s consultations on pension change. She is a director of Squire Patton Boggs’ independent trustee company and an Associate of the Pensions Management Institute.

Independent Director

Andrew Davies

Andrew is an experienced strategist, marketer and business development professional. His career of over 35 years spans the breadth of Financial Services covering pensions, wealth management, life, healthcare and general insurance. Andrew has held a wide range of senior management positions. Most recently he was Director of Marketing Strategy & Customer Insight for AXA UK & Ireland during which he established their first customer centricity strategy. Whilst Head of Strategic Development for AXA Life, Andrew created the initial strategy, and was one of the founder members of the Elevate investment platform (now ABRDN Elevate). Andrew currently runs his own management consultancy business specialising in strategic change and business transformation as well as training and coaching senior managers. Andrew has qualified as a Chartered Insurer and Financial Planner in addition to holding separate professional Project, Process and Proposal Management qualifications and he is an Accredited Professional Trustee with the Pensions Management Institute. Andrew is also a board director for the Independent Governance Committee (IGC).

Independent Director

Caroline Escott

Caroline is a fully accredited professional pension trustee and has nearly 20 years’ experience in investment and stewardship. She leads the stewardship activities for one of the UK’s largest defined benefit pension funds, is Chair of the Investor Coalition for Equal Votes, Vice-Chair of the Global Investor Governance Network and has won several awards for her ESG and industry work. She was previously Senior Investment and Stewardship Lead at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) and Head of Public Policy at the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association.


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