Mercer’s Pension Decision Service bought by Aptia
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Pension administrator and consultancy Aptia has bought Pension Decision Service from Mercer. PDS offers guidance to pension scheme members in making retirement decisions.
PDS provides one‑to‑one guidance designed to help members understand the retirement options within their scheme as well as the alternatives available to them.
“What you do with your pension is one of the most important financial decisions you’ll ever make – and it many cases, once you have made that decision there is no turning back,” said Sue Doughty, who heads up Aptia’s UK pensions administration business, having joined earlier this year.
“Pension Decision Service brings a level of expertise and care that aligns perfectly with Aptia’s values. This acquisition will enable us to deliver an even more comprehensive service to pension schemes and their members, ensuring they receive the guidance they need when they need it most,” she added.
Aptia was founded in 2023 in a buyout of the US health and benefits administration and UK pension administration business of Mercer, backed by Bain Capital Insurance. It has offices in the US, UK, India and Portugal.
Aptia was founded in 2023 in a buyout of the US health and benefits administration and UK pension administration business of Mercer, backed by Bain Capital Insurance. It has offices in the US, UK, India and Portugal.
As a third-party administrator, the firm serves 1,200 clients and more than 3m members. Last year, it bought consulting actuaries and administrators Atkin Pensions. Former pensions minister Guy Opperman is a strategic adviser to Aptia, which also recently made a slew of other hires, including Jaysukh Shah as risk transfer proposition lead joining from PwC, Sarah Steel as head of market relations, joining from NatWest Cushon, Barnett Waddingham comms specialist Steph Gold and Stuart Heatley as consulting leader, also ex-Capita, along with several senior hires.
The acquisition comes ahead of default pension benefit solutions having to be offered by schemes and follows the introduction of ‘targeted support’, a halfway house between guidance and advice.
The acquisition comes ahead of default pension benefit solutions having to be offered by schemes and follows the introduction of ‘targeted support’, a halfway house between guidance and advice.
