WBR acquires Standard Life’s £403m SSAS book

SSAS administrator and tax adviser WBR Group has acquired the small self-administered pension scheme (SSAS) book of Standard Life for an undisclosed sum. The SSAS book consists of 270 schemes with 246 properties and £403m in assets under administration. WBR has administered the SSAS book for Standard Life for over 20 years. Clients will continued to be managed by the same team with the only change for clients being a branding change. The acquisition will allow clients to gain access to additional investment options and services from WBR. The trustee will change from Standard Life Trustee Company Limited to WBR Trustees Limited. Martin Tilley, director of WBR Group, said: "This is an unusual acquisition of a book we obviously know well. The clients will notice very little difference in the service other than having access to a wider range of investment options and potentially enhanced bank interest rates obtainable through our collective buying power." Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group, said the divestment of its SSAS book would allow it to focus on its core pension propositions. Jenny Holt, product director at Standard Life, said: "The SSAS market is specialist and these clients can have complex business and retirement planning needs. Transferring schemes will benefit from the services and solutions of a provider focused on meeting these needs while also allowing us to focus on our core Workplace and Retail propositions.” WBR has made a number of acquisitions in recent years. Earlier this month the SSAS provider acquired pension consultancy Censo to enhance its offering of SSAS, DBSSAS and other actuarial services. WBR says it continues to look for more acquisitions for the right books of business. Previous acquisitions include boutique SSAS administrator Wimbledon-based Bespoke Corporate Pensions Limited (BCPL), and Rowanmoor’s book of 3,500 SSASs. It has also previously acquired James Hay’s SSAS book. WBR provides tax advice to the owner-managed business sector and high net worth individuals in addition to independent administration, consultancy, actuarial and trustee services for SSASs. The firm was established in 2016. WBR’s head office is in Leicester with offices in Bolton, Bristol, Salisbury, London and Wimbledon and clients across the UK. The firm currently administers over 4,500 schemes with assets of over £4.5bn. The actuarial department provides services to small and large DB pension schemes as well as providing specialist services re pension on divorce valuations and funeral plans.

WBR acquires Standard Life’s £403m SSAS book

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