Welcome to Innovative Funding Magazine - Edition 1!

 

 

Welcome to Isio’s first edition of Innovative Funding Group Magazine. Vocal Regulator support and a global pandemic have kept innovative funding solutions high up the agenda for anyone focused on the funding of DB pension schemes. TPR’s funding code consultation includes 50 mentions of contingent assets; while last month’s Annual Funding Statement referred to Asset Backed Funding (ABF)—and other contingent assets—as potential solutions for every category of scheme.

At Isio we have advised on over 60 ABF arrangements ranging from £10m to several £bn. And it’s not only about funding. At the link below you can see case studies where many different vehicles have unlocked longer term strategies for DB schemes.

Alan Stewart, Non-Executive Director at Diageo and former Tesco CFO says: “I do find ABF solutions to be very elegant. They give both parties comfort in respect of a funding commitment that might never be needed, effectively allowing the capital to be deployed for the sponsor and the trustees. Any innovation in this area should be given real and careful consideration”. We totally agree with him.

Innovative Funding Group Magazine will be published three times a year. We hope it will prove useful for corporate sponsors and trustees alike. While it may be sponsors who drive such solutions, many of our trustee clients are energetically looking to understand these alternatives, and which solutions might be a good answer for them.

If you would like discuss anything you read here, please don’t hesitate to give me a call. I would be delighted to introduce you to a member of our Innovative Funding Group.