By Charlie Conchie
Top workplace pension firm Smart Pension has snapped up a peer with some £750m in funds under management as pressure from the government grows for faster consolidation in the sector.
In a statement today, Smart Pension confirmed it had bought Evolve Pensions, adding over 128,000 members to its tally.
The deal comes after Jeremy Hunt last week announced plans to push along more pension schemes mergers to help boost savings for customers and encourage more cash into areas like unlisted start-ups.
Smart Pension has been one of the most acquisitive firms in the sector and has now swelled its funds to over £4bn.
Jamie Fiveash, chief of Smart UK, said the deal was a “further acceleration of our successful consolidation strategy”.
“It is clear that ‘winning’ in this market means delivering better value for savers. Size and efficiency are important for that, but also great technology,” he added.
The Chancellor outlined a slew of reforms last week including winning a commitment from some of the top pension firms to channel more than five per cent of their funds into unlisted companies.
As part of the reforms, Hunt said the government would also encourage more mergers in the sector.
So-called superfunds, which pool pension cash, have also been part of the government’s plans to revamp the way that pension cash is invested.
Simon True, chief executive of superfund Clara-Pensions, told The Times today that Clara needed to begin striking deals this year or people would lose patience with the concept.
“There’s no infinite goodwill for superfunds and therefore we have to do something this year,” Simon True he said.
True told the paper that Clara was talking to ten defined benefit (DB) schemes with an aggregate of £3.5bn of assets under management over potential deals.
