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The UK pension landscape has evolved at a staggering rate in recent years. What exactly can employers expect? And is a master trust right for you?

What is a master trust?

A master trust is a multi-employer occupational pension arrangement. Notably, employers within this setup are not connected to one another—they operate within their own master trust segment. A master trust is, however, overseen by one trustee board providing governance independent of the participating employers and provider.

What could a master trust do for me?

VS. around wider member benefits

Source: SEI

Who's it for?

Accommodating an increasing number of governance and compliance requirements can be costly—a single-trust occupational scheme must ensure they have the time, budget, and expertise necessary to avoid regulatory action.

A master trust is geared towards employers grappling with these issues. Within such an arrangement, keeping up with regulatory change becomes the responsibility of the trustee board. Employers may also benefit from economies of scale, brought about by their master trust's size, which can in turn help drive better value for members.

Are all master trusts the same?

Not all master trusts are created equal. This arrangement can vary significantly across a number of parameters, including investment strategy, governance, administration, and member engagement proposition.

Why SEI?

After acquiring the Atlas Master Trust in 2021, we committed to becoming one of the UK’s largest commercial investment-led master trusts by 2026.

We believe that with improved scale comes an enhanced proposition: We offer an exceptional service to and through retirement by virtue of our investment expertise, industry connections, and innovative approach to journey planning.

250+

250+ clients, from small schemes with a few hundred members to those with 10,000 or more

£4B

Approximately £4B managed in the SEI Master Trust, and over £65B of institutional assets globally

15+

15+ years’ experience

Source: SEI, as at 31 December 2023.

What makes us different?

Our client-centric approach to defaults

As auto enrolment has gathered pace, off-the-shelf solutions have become commonplace. However, we believe most of these strategies are not particularly sophisticated in their design. The SEI Master Trust is different. Our default has been designed to fit the needs of schemes from different industries, with different objectives based on their member base and size.

Our innovative approach to member communication and engagement

Our approach to member engagement is backed by a proprietary study exploring the way savers feel about their pension. Using video statements and our mobile app, we have placed the needs of savers first, fostering a sense of ownership that can improve your schemes contribution rate.

The investment expertise underpinning our master trust

A robust investment strategy can have a direct and positive affect on member outcomes.

The SEI Master Trust is the product of our many years of experience, both as a global investment manager and an adviser to UK pension schemes. Our default has been meticulously designed by SEI's investment professionals, who also run a number of proprietary funds (some of which we invest in).

The quality of our administrative technology

High quality member administration is crucial to the success of any DC solution. In partnership with one of the UK's largest and best established pensions administrators, our client service team act on your behalf to manage all scheme administration, helping you meet auto enrolment requirements, where relevant.

Why choose us?

We help relieve you of your governance burden, whilst providing access to a strong network of expertise:

1 Engagement is carried out by our partner, Sustainalytics. Proxy voting is conducted by GlassLewis.

Helping to deliver better outcomes.

We have over 15 years of experience in Master Trust. Find out how you can enjoy the economies of scale that result from pooling members’ assets from multiple schemes and spreading the legal, administrative and accounting costs.

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Speak to an expert today

To learn more about the SEI Master Trust, contact a team member today.

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This is a Marketing Communication. This webpage has been created in relation to the SEI Master Trust, an occupational pension scheme which is authorised by the Pensions Regulator. The trustee of the SEI Master Trust is SEI Trustees Limited. SEI Trustees Limited has appointed SEI Investments (Europe) Ltd (“SIEL”) as investment adviser to the SEI Master Trust and pursuant to its investment advisory agreement. This information is issued and approved by SEI Investments (Europe) Ltd (“SIEL”) 1st Floor, Alphabeta, 14-18 Finsbury Square, London EC2A 1BR. This webpage and its contents are directed at persons who have been categorised by SIEL as a Professional Client and is not for further distribution. SIEL is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. While considerable care has been taken to ensure the information contained within this webpage is accurate and up-to-date and complies with relevant legislation and regulations, no warranty is given and no representation is made as to the accuracy or completeness of any information and no liability is accepted for any errors or omissions in such information or any action taken on the basis of this information. The information in this webpage is for general information purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. You should read all the investment information and details on the funds before making investment choices. Please refer to our latest Prospectus (which includes information in relation to the use of derivatives and the risks associated with the use of derivative instruments), Key Investor Information Document, Summary of UCITS Shareholder rights (which includes a summary of the rights that shareholders of our funds have) and the latest Annual or Semi-Annual Reports for more information on our funds, which can be located at Fund Documents (https://seic.com/en-gb/fund-documents). And you should read the terms and conditions contained in the Prospectus (including the risk factors) before making any investment decision. If you are in any doubt about whether or how to invest, you should seek independent advice before making any decisions. The UCITS may be de-registered for sale in an EEA jurisdiction in accordance with the provisions of the UCITS Directive. Past Performance does not predict future returns. Investment in the range of the SEI Master Trust’s funds are intended as a long-term investments. The value of an investment and any income from it can go down as well as up. Investors may not get back the original amount invested. This document and its contents are for Institutional Investors only and not for further distribution. We reference ESG on this webpage. Sustainability guidelines may cause a manager to make or avoid certain investment decisions when it may be disadvantageous to do so. This means that these investments may underperform other similar investments that do not consider sustainability guidelines when making investment decisions. There can be no assurance goals will be met. If a product or strategy is subject to certain sustainable investment criteria it may avoid purchasing certain securities when it is otherwise economically advantageous to purchase those securities, or may sell certain securities when it is otherwise economically advantageous to hold those securities. Sustainability is not uniformly defined and scores and ratings may vary across providers. SEI considers ESG factors as part of its Portfolio Manager Research and due diligence process including an evaluation of each Portfolio Manager's approach to integrating sustainability risk in its investment process; however, no minimum threshold has been established with respect to these capabilities in order for a firm to be hired as a Portfolio Manager. Copyright© 2023 Sustainalytics. All rights reserved. This brochure contains information developed by Sustainalytics. Such information and data are proprietary of Sustainalytics and/or its third-party suppliers (Third Party Data) and are provided for informational purposes only. They do not constitute an endorsement of any product or project, nor an investment advice and are not warranted to be complete, timely, accurate, or suitable for a particular purpose. Their use is subject to conditions available at https://www.sustainalytics.com/legal-disclaimers.