At Brightwell, we appreciate the complexities involved with running a DB scheme, understanding the factors that influence assets, liabilities and corporate sponsors.
Our solution is more than traditional fiduciary management, enhanced through our comprehensive funding and fiduciary services. Our approach is customised to each client and fully integrated with other areas of pension management.
Taking liabilities as the starting point, we partner with clients to expertly design and execute investment and funding strategies that combine innovative hedging and cashflow awareness with an emphasis on boutique style service.
Brightwell offer:
End-to-end fiduciary management
A bespoke open architecture solution built on 40 years of experience and deep relationships with external investment managers.
Full risk hedging and LDI provision
In-house liability hedging, currency, credit and equity hedging capabilities and longevity solutions.
Liquidity and collateral management
Fully centralised liquidity management, enabled by integrated and efficient collateral management supporting all risk factors (including longevity). Clients can also benefit from our innovative and hybrid approach to credit collateralisation.
Run-on solutions
Aligning stakeholders, optimising funding and investment strategies, and ensuring governance is fit for running-on.
Our clients partner with us in various ways
– On a full or partial outsourcing basis
– Funding and fiduciary management
– OCIO / partial OCIO
On a consulting / advisory basis
– Investment strategy and journey planning advice
– Investment design and implementation
– Operational projects
Or to design and manage tailored investment and funding solutions
– Longevity hedging
– Surplus management solutions
– LDI and other risk hedging
– Liquidity and collateral management
Running on with Brightwell
Running on is a journey that requires precision and expertise. Our approach to run-on is built around its practicalities: aligning stakeholders, optimising funding and investment strategies, and ensuring governance is fit for this endgame option.
These tools and frameworks empower trustees and sponsors to run their scheme on in practice, over several valuation cycles, not merely in theory.
One Portfolio approach:
Brightwell takes a cashflow-aware approach to investment to fulfil member obligations and improve funding stability. We invest in assets that deliver predictable cashflows, allowing schemes to meet their liquidity needs while minimising exposure to market volatility.
While we focus on cashflow-aware assets, we try not to box them in. Our ‘One Portfolio Approach’ moves beyond rigid allocations to specific asset classes, instead considering the role of each asset in meeting your scheme’s goals. This gives reassurance that our investment strategy has been tailored to your scheme, rather than dictated by a pre-determined framework.
Unlocking access to surplus
A surplus can be a valuable resource for schemes and their stakeholders, and unlocking access to these funds is often a key driver behind a run-on strategy. We help trustees and sponsors evaluate their options for using surpluses, including by:
- Directly sharing surplus with the sponsor through authorised payments
- Indirectly benefitting the sponsor by reducing DC costs or contributions
- Providing discretionary increases for DB members
- Increasing contributions for DC members
- Using the surplus as a volatility buffer, for reinvestment, to reduce future buyout premiums, or for some other strategic purpose
Brightwell also has experience in forward planning around trapped surplus and constructing vehicles to enable future release. For instance, we have worked closely with our largest client, BTPS, to develop a funding solution that allows any excess funding, or surplus, to be returned to the sponsor. With our flexible approach that considers the evolving options for accessing surpluses for your desired goals.
Interested in
partnering with
Brightwell?
Disclaimer – There are other factors to consider when a scheme is deciding whether to buy out or run on. A buyout could be better for some firms depending on their circumstances and there are benefits associated with a scheme buying out over running on that you should do your own research on.
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