SOCIETY OF PENSION CONSULTANTS REBRANDED AS SOCIETY OF PENSION PROFESSIONALS (SPP)

• New name chosen to reflect the Society’s broad membership base
• New website launched alongside the new brand

The Society of Pension Consultants (SPC) is pleased to announce that it is rebranding to the Society of Pension Professionals (SPP) with immediate effect. The new name has been chosen to reflect better the broad membership base of the Society, whose members include not only consultants and actuaries but also accounting firms, solicitors, insurance companies, investment houses, investment performance measurers, independent trustees, external pension administrators.  Its Members provide advice and/or services to the overwhelming majority of the 500 largest UK pension funds. The SPP’s growing membership collectively employs some 15,000 people providing pension-related advice and services.

In conjunction with the rebrand the SPP is pleased to unveil a new Society website which can be found at the-spp.co.uk. The new site includes new content and further information on the new brand.

Duncan Buchanan, SPP President commented: “The need for a coordinated approach from across the pensions industry to manage the scope and pace of change is critical to ensure the successful development of a workable system in the UK. To this end, as a Society, we have always prided ourselves on our ability to feed in objective views on developments given the broad church of our membership which is drawn from across the whole pension landscape. Our new brand better reflects this expertise and, in its first year, the Society’s key priorities will be to work with Government, Regulators and other industry bodies on the development and introduction of the tax changes to Defined Contribution plans and the Guidance Guarantee announced in the last Budget.

“In conjunction with our new brand I am also extremely pleased to be able to unveil our new website which we hope will become a useful reference point for all those working in the industry.”

Industry comments:

Michelle Cracknell, CEO of The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS), said: “During this period of huge pension reforms, it is vital that we have cooperation across different parts of the pensions industry, which we understand is part of the SPP’s agenda and the reason for the rebranding. The Pensions Advisory Service benefits from huge support by the industry, many of whom are SPP members. We believe that the success of the new guidance service being introduced by the Treasury will be if the industry works together in encouraging people to take up the opportunity and helping people implement the guidance.”

Gregg McClymont, Shadow Minister for Pensions, said: “I look forward to working alongside the Society of Pension Professionals in building a workplace pension system where every employee can be sure that the scheme into which they contribute delivers the best value for money possible.”

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For further details

John Mortimer, SPC 020 7353 1688

Andrew Wilde / Ged Brumby, Smithfield 020 7903 0674

NOTES FOR EDITORS

The SPP is the representative body for a wide range of providers of advice and services to work-based pension schemes and to their sponsors. The SPP’s Members’ profile is a key strength and includes accounting firms, solicitors, insurance companies, investment houses, investment performance measurers, consultants and actuaries, independent trustees and external pension administrators. The SPP is the only body to focus on the whole range of pension related services across the private pensions sector and, through such a wide spread of providers of advice and services. We do not represent any particular type of provision or anyone interested body or group. Many thousands of individuals and pension funds use the services of one or more of SPP’s Members, including the overwhelming majority of the 500 largest UK pension funds. SPP’s growing membership collectively employs some 15,000 people providing pension-related advice and services.