Pension scheme governance specialists have often had a previous career. For example, our specialist pension scheme governance team at Barnett Waddingham - our Pension Management team – is comprised of individuals with very varied backgrounds, including actuarial, pension administration, legal, and in-house pensions. Significant pensions knowledge is required, which has, in most cases, been acquired through these specialist roles, but we also train people within the team who are completely new to pensions.

The resulting diversity of thought and approach results in a team that is ideally placed to help clients. For example:

• Former pension managers have effectively ‘walked a mile’ in their clients’ shoes. They have a good understanding of industry workings, and what it’s like dealing with active members
• Former lawyers tend to be precise and understand complex details. They can provide good counsel and will often think outside the box
• Actuaries excel at all things mathematical. Many are also used to interpreting complicated scheme rules (although this will not be a substitute for advice from a scheme’s legal advisers)
• Former administrators bring a wealth of expertise relating to member issues and benefit calculations.

I’d like to highlight one particular area of work we do that I feel is less well known; that of project management.

You might be wondering whether it is really necessary to ask people to manage professionals, say for a guaranteed minimum pension (GMP) equalisation exercise or change in administrators. In a word, yes! Projects can go wrong even when professionals are involved. Fundamentally, the main aim of governance is about having the right structures and processes to enable effective, timely decisions and risk management, and to provide clear scheme objectives. Sounds very similar to the fundamentals of good project management, doesn’t it?

Much of the work undertaken in specialist pension scheme governance teams involves working on large projects. Projects that are tightly managed by people who have the time and the ability to do so are more likely to be successful than those where fingers have been crossed, and damage from any problems is likely to be more limited. Many of our team have significant experience in this area and some hold the PRINCE2 project management qualification.

If you are organised, a great communicator, and perhaps have other useful skills such as project management expertise, maybe the role of a pension scheme governance specialist would suit you? And if you have a pension scheme which requires these skills and attributes, and perhaps has some significant projects to manage, you know what sort of person to ask.

Lucy Cresswell is a principal and governance specialist within Barnett Waddingham’s Pension Management team. This 30+ strong team supports trustee boards of all sizes by providing a range of services including project management and fully outsourced trustee executive services. Lucy supports a number of large projects and is Barnett Waddingham’s GMP Project Delivery Lead.