SERVICES
Pension Scheme
Secretarial Services
&
Trustee Governance Services.
In addition to permanent appointments, I can offer fixed term contracts for specific projects, or to provide cover for maternity leave, career breaks, etc.
CHALLENGES
Supporting & Guiding Trustees in a Rapidly Changing Pensions Environment
SOLUTIONS
Providing Practical Solutions to Pensions Governance Issues
QUALIFICATIONS
Fellow of the Pensions Management Institute.
PMI Award in
Pension Trusteeship.
BSc(Hons) in Mathematics
& Management Studies.
TPR Trustee Toolkit
How Can I Help You?
The primary duty of a Scheme Secretary is to provide specialist support to the scheme Trustees to enable them to effectively manage the pension scheme. This encompasses more than pure ‘secretarial’ duties. It includes managing relationships, providing pensions expertise and understanding when to liaise with Trustee advisers to ensure the Trustees receive appropriate advice when required, at a reasonable fee.
I have the knowledge and experience to provide a professional service at a competitive fee, offering value for money but never compromising on quality.
If you are looking for a solution to your scheme secretarial and governance requirements, please contact me for an initial discussion.
I look forward to working with you.
Katie Brassington - FPMI
Pension Scheme Secretary
Katie@KBTrusteeSolutions.co.uk - 07585 303 641
EXPERIENCE
Over 30 Years in the Pensions Industry, Working in Pensions Management, Trustee Services and Pensions Administration.
Networking at the annual PLSA conference
WHAT DOES THE PENSIONS REGULATOR SAY?
The Pensions Regulator defines the role of Scheme Secretary as follows:
Work with the trustee board to make sure the scheme is efficiently and properly run, members' benefits are secure and support efficient and effective governance.
KB Trustee Solutions is achieving this objective with clients every day!
See What Some Of My Clients Have To Say...
I am lucky to have worked with a diverse range of Trustee Boards.
Below are some comments from Pension Trustees and Managers I have worked with:
Katie provides secretarial and governance services for two defined benefit schemes that I previously chaired. I find Katie to be an extremely efficient and capable individual. She fits in well with the mix of Trustees, advisers and in house colleagues across both schemes, drafting meeting agendas, progressing actions between meetings and managing deadlines to issue Trustee papers in a timely manner.
The schemes are both very mature and well progressed along their journey plans. As such, there is a lot of project work, for example in relation to insurance transactions and potential surplus considerations. Katie has a good understanding of the technical issues the Trustee Boards discuss at meetings and produces detailed minutes that accurately capture key points to ensure a clear audit trail of decisions.
Katie is also very strong in the area of governance. She has suggested improvements to our processes which have strengthened the Trustees’ governance arrangements at a time when governance is increasingly topical across the industry.
Steve Southern
Professional Independent Trustee
Trustee Chair, DB Pension Schemes
I have worked with Katie for six years and have been tremendously impressed with her grasp of technical detail, her ability to anticipate individual's reactions and her composure in meetings (when others have not maintained their composure).
Katie has been involved in several complex exercises and has project managed them excellently.
Ian Shepherd
Independent Trustee
Trustee Chair, DB Pension Scheme
I have worked with Katie for just over two years, where she provides Trustee Secretarial services to our DB and DC Plan.
Our Trustees are extremely complimentary of the quality of work, governance management, organisation and professionalism Katie brings to the role.
From a personal perspective, we have built a really excellent relationship, as she has with the Trustees and other advisers, and she provides excellent support to me as Pensions Manager working well together to ensure the Plan is run efficiently and effectively.
We are a business which has Family and Care as two of its core values, and when faced with complex individual discretionary cases, Katie communicates compassionately with our members and their families and therefore truly lives these values.
Graeme Mearns
Head of Reward and Pensions
DB/DC Pension Scheme
I have worked with Katie as our Trustee Secretary for the last 2 years and she has made a huge difference to the running of our Trustee Board and my role as Chair.
Katie is extremely knowledgeable and efficient and is a delight to work with. She has brought significant efficiency to our papers and meetings and in her own understated way is great at keeping everyone (advisers, trustees and me!) on their toes.
Her knowledge of "how others do it" is extremely valuable when we are confronting practical issues. Katie has a particular strength in governance related work and has helped us develop our approach to the new General Code in a typically sensible and pragmatic way. I cannot recommend Katie highly enough.
David Smith
Company Appointed Trustee
Trustee Chair, DB Pension Scheme
I worked with Katie for a number of years prior to her setting up KB Trustee Solutions. I therefore had no hesitation in contacting Katie again when I was looking for additional resource to assist with two defined benefit pension schemes.
Katie is experienced with a high level of technical knowledge. She transitioned into the existing team seamlessly, providing a flexible solution to our resourcing issues. Katie supports the Trustee Boards by providing secretarial and governance services and also the in house team with all tasks around Trustee and Sub-Committee meetings, liaising with advisers and managing timescales.
Katie is easy to work with, extremely efficient and happy to flex her services to fit our specific needs. A particular area where Katie adds value is on formal complaint cases. We have large memberships and as such, a certain level of complaints is inevitable. This support, in an area of work that can be time consuming, is very welcome. Katie shows a good understanding of the detail of each case and provides a pragmatic suggested response, which saves valuable time for the in house team. I would have no hesitation in recommending Katie to new prospective clients.
Steven Robson
Head of Pensions
DB Pension Schemes
Having known and worked with Katie for more than 18 years (in a variety of roles) I would have no hesitation in highly recommending her services. Katie currently provides secretarial services to our mature DB Scheme. She ensures that the Trustee meetings are organised and run efficiently, drafting agendas and making certain that all papers are remitted on time, thereby guaranteeing the Trustee has sufficient time to review the papers before the meetings.
Katie produces high quality minutes punctually following Trustee meetings which accurately capture technical discussions. She also produces an action log to track resulting actions and follows up with advisers to ensure these are completed in a timely manner. Katie’s professional and friendly demeaner means she works collaboratively with Trustee advisers and encourages Trustee participation during the Trustee meetings.
She also provides valuable support to me in my role as Scheme Secretary, and the Trustee Chair, throughout the quarterly meeting cycle.
Paula Morton
Group Pensions and Benefits Manager
DB Pension Scheme
As a member elected Trustee for over 14 years, the service and support provided by Katie Brassington to the Trustee and I has been absolutely second to none! Katie has ensured delivery to the Trustee of an overall first class service, covering everything from:-Core services including Scheme Secretarial and Governance Services, to managing advisors, scheme valuations, member elections and communications, investment strategy and reviews, company covenant reviews, trustee training, all reviews required for the scheme and rules, budget controls including negotiations on fees and fee reductions, tender exercises and consultant beauty parades, annual audits, GDPR, 'PIE' and 'Buy in' negotiations. But most important, a deep personal support to the Trustee, covering everything I personally need help with, to aid my role and responsibilities, to fulfil my role of a Trustee. Katie is the true professional in pension services, managing the secretarial and management of our Scheme, delivering and ensuring meetings run smoothly. I hope KB Trustee Solutions will continue to manage and support our Scheme and support the Trustee, going forward. Katie’s services and Scheme knowledge is paramount to our overall goal of self sufficiency.
Stan Rennie
Member Nominated Trustee
DB Pension Scheme
Katie has provided scheme secretarial services for our pension scheme for 14 years. During that time our DB scheme has moved from 100% active members to a mature scheme well progressed along its journey plan to self sufficiency and Katie has been committed to supporting the Trustee Board throughout. Katie’s experience and attention to detail ensures that as Trustees we have all the information and advice we need to manage the scheme effectively.
But more than that, Katie truly cares about both the Scheme and the Trustee Board and in my opinion, that personal commitment is what sets her apart from many other advisers. I therefore have no hesitation in recommending KB Trustee Solutions as a provider of outstanding scheme secretarial and governance services.
I would be happy to speak to anyone considering appointing KB Trustee Solutions and can be contacted via Katie.
David Hawksworth
Member Nominated Trustee
DB Pension Scheme
I have worked with Katie Brassington for over 13 years and in that time, I have found her work ethic and commitment to the Trustees second to none. Like all pension schemes the years have been extremely busy with many challenges.
The scheme has challenged advisor costs/changed advisors, reassessed our governance process, the company is undertaking a pension exchange program and at present we are looking at the feasibility of a pensioner buy in. Katie has been pivotal in all these processes, I could not recommend her more highly.
John Binns
Member Nominated Trustee
DB Pension Scheme
I have been working with Katie for a few years now and would not hesitate in recommending her for either a secretarial role or to manage more bespoke projects. On a personal level, I enjoy working with Katie and her flexible approach to work has been extremely valuable over lockdown. She is well respected by the Trustee Board and takes an active role in meetings as well as producing accurate minutes and proactively following up on actions.
Katie’s work is always carried out to an extremely high standard and her knowledge and experience in the pensions market is clear to see whether she is working on member options projects, buy-ins or managing the day-to-day governance requirements for the Scheme.
Catherine Edmondson
Professional Independent Trustee
Trustee Chair, DB Pension Scheme
Katie has recently joined our Pensions Management Team covering maternity leave for an experienced member of the department. Her transition into the role has been seamless and she has delivered a high standard of service to the Trustee from day 1. She brings with her a wide range of business and pensions knowledge and has a pragmatic
approach to getting things done, actively taking ownership in resolving issues and chasing down actions with Trustees and Advisors.
She has a great work ethic and the quality and accuracy of her work is impressive.
She produces in a timely manner detailed and complex papers and board and sub-committee minutes which reflect the knowledge and experience she has gained in pensions over the
past 24 years.
Since joining the department, she has played a wider role within the team in supporting the Pensions Manager in picking up detailed project based work across both of our DB and DB/DC pension schemes and the wider pension activity. In this role she has brought transformational ideas and innovative thinking to the change initiatives. I have been delighted with how Katie has picked up the role and the progress we have made over the past 4 months.
With the energy, input and ‘can do’ attitude that she brings to the team it makes it very easy for me to recommend KB Trustee Solutions to any organisation.
Gary Dixon
Company Appointed Trustee
Trustee Chair, DB and DB/DC Pension Schemes