A new capital-backed defined benefit scheme, the Pension SuperHaven, has said it will accept transfers-in of self-invested personal pensions. It is hoping to attract former members of the British Steel Pension Scheme.

The Pension SuperHaven is a defined benefit scheme that will take transfers-in, including from individuals’ pension pots, to provide a “secure monthly pension for life, with shared upside”.   

Co-founded by Edi Truell, it was first announced last October, when STM Group was bought by another venture of Truell’s, the financier behind the ill-fated Pension SuperFund as well as buyout specialist Pension Insurance Corporation. The corporate trustee of SuperHaven is Align Pensions, and a procurement exercise is underway, according to the fund. 
 

   

SuperHaven’s members would not share in any investment downside; this will be borne by the sponsor, the fund said. It is sponsored by a Scottish limited partnership that does not currently have a name, while the buffer capital comes from “pension experts” plus 21% from the Truell Conservation Foundation. The fund did not say how much capital is being provided but said it was sufficient to meet Pensions Regulator requirements. The capital provider is obliged to replenish the buffer to a level that satisfies TPR, according to the fund: “If it cannot do so, PSH falls into the PPF.” 

A spokesperson for the Pensions Regulator said: “We have not assessed or provided regulatory approval for the new Pension SuperHaven model.”  

The spokesperson added: “We support innovation in savers’ interests but will need to be assured by any new market entrants that savers are protected. As we work through with other government bodies to determine whether this product is a pensions product and if so, what protections it requires, we are not in a position to confirm that this model offers sufficient saver protection at this point. We would not expect individuals with DC savings to transfer into this solution.” 

Should this type of arrangement be part of the decumulation landscape, it will need to have the right standards of governance and conduct, fitness of those running the entity and financial security to provide protection for members, according to TPR.  

The PPF said the Pension Superhaven will be eligible for PPF compensation if it meets the requirements set out in the PPF regulations in the Pensions Act 2004.  

SuperHaven is currently focussing on former members of the British Steel Pension Scheme who transferred out when the scheme was restructured, often against the members’ best interest, as the Financial Conduct Authority later found. 
   

   

   
The fund said steelworkers would have a tool to compare it with open market annuity rates, provided by AgeWage in partnership with existing advisers.  

“The Pension SuperHaven scheme would, in effect, put the affected members back to where they should have been,” the fund claimed. 
 
Truell said: “Over the past 18 months, the Pension SuperHaven team have been working tirelessly behind the scenes with both regulators and representatives of the British Steel workers to deliver a much-needed solution.”  

He added: “We are now delighted to be able to provide the backstop ‘safety capital’. We are confident that Pension SuperHaven will provide proper comfort to many ex-steelworkers after this long-standing debacle as well as for other companies in the market.”  

The fund does not alter benefit structures for pensions in payment to reflect changes in interest rates but said that “the initial rate of exchange can and will be changed to reflect expected investment returns, mortality and scheme expenses”, meaning different cohorts could have different levels of benefit. It did not say whether it would collect health information to assess life expectancy, for example. 

The Financial Conduct Authority has been contacted for comment.