UK Master Trust Smart Pension Selects ClaritEx to Deliver Cost Transparency Insights
Simplitium™, the financial services transparency specialist and a Cinnober Group company, today announces that Smart Pension (‘Smart’), one of the leading UK Master Trusts, has signed as the first client for its ClaritEx™ cost transparency solution for pension schemes. ClaritEx offers schemes unparalleled access to their underlying cost data, setting new standards for transparency in the pensions industry.
The system will support and further strengthen Smart’s corporate governance framework and help the firm to communicate a previously unattainable level of detailed costs and charges incurred across the value chain. ClaritEx uses an interactive user dashboard to focus on providing a granular costs and charges breakdown, enabling the chair of trustees to provide comprehensive and accurate information regarding costs to members in its annual statement. Smart is amongst the first firms in the Defined Contribution (DC) market taking steps to further improve engagement with scheme members around the topic of cost transparency.
Transparency is increasingly critical in the pensions industry as part of demonstrating effective governance. Several regulatory initiatives have been implemented recently and more are scheduled this year to improve transparency of costs in the pensions industry. Most recently, new FCA rules which came into effect on 3 January 2018, require asset managers to provide transaction costs to DC scheme providers and governance committees, while new cost disclosure standards are due to be published imminently by the FCA’s Institutional Disclosure Working Group.
Claire Altman, Head of Financial Services for Smart Pension, said “Smart is very pleased to be working with Simplitium to develop a cost transparency solution. As a fintech, we are always keen to identify and implement the latest proven solutions which provide pragmatic innovation for both our clients and our business. ClaritEx will provide us with access to previously unattainable levels of understanding about our costs and charges. We will use this information to further enhance engagement and to provide additional insight into how we operate our business more efficiently for the benefit of scheme members.”
Tom Hibbard, Head of Pensions Business Development for Simplitium, said “Welcoming Smart as the first client for our ClaritEx service is a significant milestone. Smart is the pioneering UK Master Trust and has established a strong reputation for combining a fintech mindset with pensions expertise in innovative ways for the occupational pension marketplace. With regulatory scrutiny of costs growing and authorities and scheme representatives increasingly demanding increased disclosure of costs, Simplitium provides the next generation solution to the reporting challenges faced by pension schemes.”
Smart Pension was founded by experienced finance and technology professionals in 2015 and was designed specifically to support businesses faced with the challenges of providing workplace pensions. It spent over a year developing and testing its platform whilst also establishing the partnerships necessary to meet regulatory requirements and deliver a seamless end-to-end experience. With thousands of satisfied employers, advisers and half-a-million employees now using the platform, the MAF-accredited award-winning provider offers one of the best workplace pension solutions currently available in the UK.
Combining innovative technology with a detailed understanding of the challenges facing the pensions industry, Simplitium delivers an independent service which assists with the governance of schemes and increases transparency of retirement savings.
For further information, please contact:
JPES Partners
+44 (0)20 7520 7620
simplitium@jpespartners.com
Emmy Granström
Marketing Director, Simplitium
+44 (0)20 3735 4981
emmy.granstrom@cinnober.com
About ClaritEx™
ClaritEx is the next generation pension cost data monitoring solution for the pensions industry. Powered by Simplitium, the service helps both DB and DC pension schemes access the information needed to make better investment decisions and meet increased governance obligations. In response to the ever-growing demand for greater transparency across UK financial services, ClaritEx provides comprehensive transparency of costs to the UK pensions industry.
Cost transparency is achieved through a combination of innovative technology with a detailed and expert understanding of the investment value chain. By collecting consistent and comparable cost data from both schemes and their underlying service providers, ClaritEx delivers full assurance of costs to market participants in an industry which has, until now, struggled to achieve transparency. For further information, please visit www.simplitium.com/claritex.
About Simplitium™
By listening and responding to the market, Simplitium (formerly known as Boat Services) transforms complex challenges into flexible, scalable and secure solutions. Simplitium’s services help firms achieve greater efficiency and transparency in their daily operations, from regulatory compliance and cost management to catastrophe risk management.
As part of Cinnober, one of the world’s leading clearing and trading technology providers, Simplitium has the stability and structure to ensure secure and reliable delivery of world class services that cover the entire transaction chain. For further information, please visit www.simplitium.com. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
About Smart Pension
Smart Pension is an award-winning, MAF-accredited online auto enrolment provider. Smart Pension was co-founded in 2014 by Andrew Evans, CEO, and Will Wynne, MD, and launched in May 2015. Its Master Trust is overseen by professional trustees with decades of experience supervising large pension schemes. Smart Pension has a 5 star rating from Defaqto in the auto enrolment category. Smart Pension is the fastest auto enrolment platform on the market to sign up with and advisers and employers can use it for free - there are no upfront or ongoing charges for companies or their advisers. LGIM took a minority stake in the digital pension platform in 2016, part of a move by LGIM to invest in high-achieving, innovative technology that has a positive impact on the wider UK economy. In June 2017 it was named Fintech Innovation of the Year and overall winner in the Digital Leaders 100 awards. For further information, please visit www.autoenrolment.co.uk.
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