South East Water and Mid-Kent Group Pension Schemes - The Journey

To celebrate our 100th birthday, we asked some of our clients to tell us what it’s really like working with us – and what they would wish for if they could blow out the candles on our birthday cake. Peter Carver (Actuarial Consultant) spoke with Jo Stimpson (Chair of Trustees) at South East Water and Mid-Kent Group Pension schemes.

Introduction

Jo Stimpson first started working with us around 2006, when South-East and Mid-Kent water companies merged and brought their defined benefit pension schemes with them.

"Hymans became the adviser to both schemes and eventually took on the administration too. They’ve always thought long-term and that has stood us in good stead. We’re always working towards a long-term objective and beyond: to buyout, to the endgame. We’re always thinking about our options.

Of course, there have been changes and big events along the way. Lots of consultation, lots of negotiation, lots of member communication. Lots of valuations too, which are tricky in our sector.

I feel that Hymans Robertson are our partner on the journey. Like every scheme, we have a broad range of skills and experience at the table, but we all favour a straight-forward stance. We hold them to a high standard and they’re good at checking-in on that. That responsiveness is important.

So is governance, where Hymans balance keeping us on the straight and narrow with making sure we’re not doing too much. We’re not a large scheme; they’re good at seeing what we need to adapt.  

We’re looking at the endgame for our scheme now – that’s new territory for us as trustee directors, but they’ve brought in specialists who fit well with the team.

Hymans Robertson’s confidence gives us the confidence to push forward to where we need to be: making sure our members’ benefits are secure."

Listen to the full interview here