Introduction

The Association of Member Nominated Trustees was formed in September 2010 in response to the need for member nominees to be more appropriately supported, thereby enabling them to make a greater and more active contribution to scheme governance, and to more effectively voice their collective opinions.

The organisation is in formative, launch stage and is now seeking membership, operational support and backing. It aspires to become a positive force in the UK pensions industry, contributing fresh thinking and a practical, collegiate approach to the many challenges that are faced.

This temporary web page has been designed to provide:-

1. An overview of The Association of Member Nominated Trustees(AMNT)
2. An overview of The Friends of The Association of Member Nominated Trustees

If you already know about the organisations and want to join, please go to Register above and select the appropriate options - alternatively you can read about them below before deciding.

Please note that both entities are in their infancy and much work is going on behind the scenes with a view to having a formal launch in early 2011. In the meantime please excuse the lack of design and cosmetics whilst we focus attention on raising profile, recruiting members to the Association and recruiting supporters to "Friends of" the Association.

Part 1. About the Association of Member Nominated Trustees

The Association of Member Nominated Trustees is a not-for-profit organisation which supports member-nominated trustees, member-nominated directors and employee representatives of UK based pension schemes in the Private and Public Sector (funded and unfunded).

The Association is dedicated to providing these member nominees (MNs) with support which underpins their critical role in ensuring that their pension scheme is governed in the best interests of the scheme members and in alignment with their sponsor’s interests.

The AMNT will enable member nominees to build their skills and knowledge, voice their opinions, share best practice, become part of a like-minded community and be better recognised for the good and important work they do.

The AMNT is run for and by MNs on a voluntary basis.

Why is such an Association needed?

The AMNT believes that given the inherently complex nature of UK pensions and the increasing burden being placed on trustees, that far more should be done to support lay trustees in general and member nominees in particular.

We believe that member nominees have needs that are not fully catered for elsewhere, yet they have a unique perspective within the pensions industry and they have to deal with a specific set of challenges, constraints and conflicts.  

Member nominees are very important - theyshare responsibility for the vast sums of money that other people are depending on for their retirement and they provide the intimate link between a pension scheme's governance and its membership.

Whilst they have every intention of performing their duties well, many new member nominees feel somewhat overwhelmed by the inherently complex nature of pensions regulation and terminology.

They are typically aware of their lesser knowledge, understanding and experience in this field compared with their professional advisers.

Furthermore, the potential short tenure of office means that MNs are often on a very steep learning curve. By the time they feel competent and confident it is often time to relinquish their role; then the process may start all over again with somebody new.

As member nominees are selected from their peers they often find themselves having to balance their duties as a member nominee with their regular day job and this itself can generate conflict.

As a consequence of these factors, MNs sometimes struggle to make as full a contribution as they would like; they may feel isolated and at worst, even vulnerable.

For some schemes the governance challenge is compounded further as a direct consequence of having member nominee vacancies that are proving difficult to fill.

Despite these difficulties, member nominees do a thorough and conscientious job and deserve appropriate recognition and support through an Association of their own.

What are the Aims of the Association?

1.      To support the development of member nominees and to enable them to perform their role to the best of their ability.

2.      To provide member nominees with a collective voice, and if desired, to lobby on pension matters with the Regulator, within the pensions industry and through the professional associations and trade bodies.

3.      To provide or guide access to training services which meet member nominees’ needs.

4.      To help identify and champion best practice among pension schemes – including scheme governance, performance and communications.

5.      To provide a networking environment through which member nominees can share their experiences and challenges with other member nominees in confidence.

6.      To provide support for sponsors through targeted services – including for example a member nominee selection process.

7.      To conduct research or studies which may help MNs become more effective in their performance. 

How will these aims be delivered?

1.      Through a website which will act as a communications hub and resource portal – with free access to selected technical information, guidance and downloads.

2.      Through links to the capabilities offered through external social networks.

3.      Through links to information and training opportunities.

4.      Through meetings and seminars held around the country.

5.      Through participation in conferences and industry events.

6.      Through services supplied by the ‘Friends of’ the Association

How did the Association start?

The Association was launched by Pitmans Trustees Ltd, as a result of feedback and comments from member nominees who expressed a desire to be able to liaise with other MNs, share experiences and build a community designed specifically to cater for their unique perspective within the pensions industry.

In getting it launched, the first step was to gauge how widespread the interest was in such an idea, and to collect views on how it could work. After a little research and some encouraging feedback an inaugural meeting was held on Friday 3^rd September 2010, attended by individuals representing a range of schemes including Marks & Spencer, Telent, ICI, Atkins, Aegon, Coats, United Technologies Corporation, Kasbank, Clariant, Heygate and LBBD.

Since then the Association has won universal support, including in the pensions media and amongst the pensions’ trade bodies: momentum continues to build.

Who is leading the Committee?

The Founding Committee has been formed, and is being co-chaired by:

• Janice Turner, Member Nominated Trustee of the BECTU Staff Retirement Scheme: jturner@stagescreenandradio.org.uk
•  Barry Parr, Member Nominated Director of the Orange Pension Scheme: barry.parr@everythingeverywhere.com

How can you get involved?

The Association is for member nominated trustees, member nominated directors, employees’ pension representatives and so on, in both the public and private sector.

If you are a member nominee yourself you can get involved by joining – use the Register link at the top of this page and be sure to select Joining the Association of MNTs. There is no cost to join and the process will take you less than 10 minutes.

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Part 2: About the Friends of the Association of

Member Nominated Trustees

 “Friends of” has been set up to enable progressively-minded commercial businesses,  trade bodies, government departments, unions and other organisations to support the Association of Member Nominated Trustees and its objectives.

The intention is to allow Friends to give something back to the core of the Pensions Industry, to help foster good practice and encourage high performing standards.

We are keen to enlist support from any entity that believes in the basic premise that member nominees have an important job to do and should be given as much support as possible.

How can Friends help?

Until the financial dynamics of the Association are better known we cannot yet define the type of sponsorship model that would be most appropriate for us moving forward.

We wish to encourage input from Friends themselves in helping to shape a practical, yet principles-based sponsorship model for us to apply, whilst in the meantime we are seeking whatever financial or operational support Friends are willing to offer.

Each organisation is different – here is a short list of the sort of support that could be helpful:-

·        General financial sponsorship

·        Specific sponsorship, for example of a particular event or meeting

·        The provision of meeting or training room facilities

·        The provision of trainers to run training sessions

·        Provision of expert knowledge on topics to support MNs’ policy views formation

·        Providing online networking platforms

·        Publicising the Association through their contacts e.g. in a mailshot

·        Creating and running a website

·        Providing materials that can be downloaded free of charge from the website

·        Providing some part-time clerical, administrative or secretarial support

·        Helping to run a research project, a study or produce a paper

On what Terms is support wanted?

All support from Friends is to be made available at no cost to the Association or its members and without the expectation of a direct commercial return for its provision.

Nevertheless we would expect to give clear credits for services and resources provided so that member nominees are fully aware.

Why get involved?

There are many reasons why an organisation may want to get involved. You might just want to support the pensions industry. You might hope to benefit in terms of positive PR. You might just sense that member nominees are an increasingly important population within the pensions industry and given the widespread support that the Association has already received, you may feel it makes sense to support it too.

It doesn’t really matter what your motivation is for wanting to become a Friend; what matters is that you want to see it succeed and believe you can provide some beneficial help, even if that is just to promote it to your existing contacts.

What sort of organisations might want to become a Friend? 

We expect a very wide range of organisations to want to become involved, including:-

• Sponsoring employers, because they can also directly benefit
• Pensions trade bodies and professional associations
• Consulting actuaries
• Investment houses, fund managers, asset managers and investment consultancies
• Accountancy firms
• Pensions law firms
• Website designers
• Online networking platform providers
• Trades unions
• Membership associations
• The Pensions Regulator
• Pensions training prganisations
• Pensions consultancies and solution providers
• Employee benefit consultancies
• Independent trustee firms and governance consultancies
• Communications consultancies
• Pensions administration firms
• Accreditation organisations

What to do next

The Registration process will enable you to outline the type of support that you may be able to provide - any support will be much appreciated especially during these early stages whilst the Association is getting established. 

To register, please go to Register at the top of this page and select the Friends option - the exercise should take less than 20 minutes altogether and feel free to get in touch if any of it needs clarification or if you have any queries.

Once your registration has been received we will keep you posted of developments as they occur, and of course we will be delighted to get into dialogue with you in relation to the support you may be able to provide.  

We have got a lot to do, so please wish us luck!

Janice Turner & Barry Parr,

Founding Co-Chairs of The Association of Member Nominated Trustees