Pension bulk transfers—beginners’ guide


Produced in partnership with Wyn Derbyshire of gunnercooke LLP
Practice notes

Pension bulk transfers—beginners’ guide


Produced in partnership with Wyn Derbyshire of gunnercooke LLP

Practice notes
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This guide, which concerns trust-based occupational pension schemes, is primarily aimed at trainees, newly qualified lawyers and other persons who are new to or unfamiliar with pensions law.

A bulk transfer is the transfer of a group of members from one pension scheme (the transferring scheme) to another (the receiving scheme). The transferring scheme will make a transfer payment to the receiving scheme, covering all of the transferring members. The transferring members will cease to be entitled to benefits in the transferring scheme and will become entitled to benefits under the receiving scheme.

This beginners’ guide provides an overview of the different types of bulk pension transfer which can occur.

For an introduction to individual pension transfers, see Practice Note: Individual pension transfers—beginners’ guide.

Active members

If active members are to be the subject of a bulk transfer, it will be necessary to consider the basis (if any) on which they will accrue benefits in the receiving scheme.

On a bulk transfer between defined benefit (DB) schemes, it is common for pensionable service to be treated

Wyn Derbyshire
Wyn Derbyshire

Partner, gunnercooke LLP

Wyn is a partner at gunnercooke LLP and specialises in pensions, trust and employment law in all industry sectors, dealing with the transactional, advisory and documentation aspects.

He also has wide experience of the pensions implications of heavyweight corporate transactions and flotations, the issues arising from the establishment and merger of pension schemes, and sex equalisation and other discrimination issues in respect of benefits provided by pension schemes. In addition, he provides advice to pension scheme trustees generally.

Recent transactions include advising Amcor on pension matters relating to the acquisition of Alcan business and the acquisition of Northern Foods PLC by Boparan Holdings.

He is a co-author (with Stephen Hardy and Stephen Maffey) of TUPE: Law and Practice, published by Spiramus Press (now in its 4th edition), and co-author (with Stephen Hardy and David Wicks) of Money & Work, published by Spiramus Press in August 2007. He has also written several other books and numerous articles on a variety of legal and non-legal topics.

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Related legal acts:
Key definition:
Bulk transfer definition
What does Bulk transfer mean?

The transfer of the value of the rights of a group of members from one occupational pension scheme to another.

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