Ricardo moves 2,500 DC pension scheme members to LifeSight

Ricardo selected LifeSight to take over its UK pension scheme after a competitive tender

The strategic engineering and environmental consultancy, Ricardo Plc, has moved its 2,500 defined contribution (DC) pension scheme members to the LifeSight master trust.

The members and £125m in assets moved from the Ricardo International Pension Scheme, a single-employer trust scheme.

Ricardo selected LifeSight to take over its UK pension scheme in September 2020 after a competitive tender.

Members were able to make pension contributions from March 2021 and the transfer of all member assets was completed in April 2021.

LifeSight said that it saw strong engagement from members, with over 60 per cent of Ricardo’s employees logging into their new pension account following the launch.

As a consultancy with a focus on precision engineering, the key things that really stood out to us about LifeSight was its commitment to sustainable investing and its ability to build a bespoke service around the specific needs of our pension scheme members, said Ricardo group head of treasury, Mark Edwards.

The close support we received from their dedicated onboarding team and experienced workstream leaders at LifeSight led to a very smooth and efficient implementation process and a very positive experience for our members, he said.

The transferring of Ricardo’s members and assets brings LifeSight’s overall membership to 235,000 and its assets under management (AUM) to £10.5bn.

LifeSight managing director, Fiona Matthews, commented: We are so thrilled to have won the mandate from Ricardo, particularly in these challenging times for all pension schemes.

Despite our rapid growth, we have been very selective about which companies we work with; this enables us to partner very closely with our clients and deliver a hugely positive experience to all their members, Matthews said.

She said: I felt strongly from the beginning that the culture at Ricardo, its commitment to long-term sustainability and its membership profile, would be a great fit for LifeSight.