As part of the Scheme’s investment portfolio, BCF own a commercial property in St Neots.
The building was purchased in a run-down state and after extensive renovations, including a complete new roof and internal fit-out, BCF are leasing it to the Rapid Relief Team, a charity organisation that offers hope and relief to people across the globe who are affected by emergencies, natural disasters, poverty and much else. The Department of Work and Pensions recently launched the Taskforce on Social Factors to assist pension scheme trustees to better understand and incorporate social factors into their investment decisions. The Pensions Minister, Paul Maynard, said of the Guide:
“The UK is already a world-leader in tackling climate risk, so it is right that we take a similar proactive approach towards the social factors of environmental, social, and corporate governance investing and embedding these within pension schemes’ investment decisions and stewardship policies.
BCF’s investment in the new RRT UK headquarters is an excellent example of pension scheme funds being used for a social good at the same time as providing a good, stable source of returns for the Scheme’s members.
Some scheme statistics
| 6226 members | (up from 5514 on 31.12.2022) |
| 177 members | Are taking a pension (up from 127 on 31.12.2022) |
| 441 | Participating employers (up from 403 on 31.12.2022) |
| 4.9% | Investment growth between 06.01.23 and 05.01.24 (taken from the Scheme’s internal unit prices) |
| £60.1m | Total scheme assets (up from £49.5m at 31.12.2022) |
Scheme governance improvements
Quite rightly, all aspects of pensions governance have been a relentless focus of The Pensions Regulator. To assist the BCF Trustees and Scheme Manager to take the governance aspects of the scheme to the next level, the Trustees are delighted to advise that they have appointed Andrew Warwick-Thompson as the Scheme’s Independent Governance Advisor.
Andrew is an industry recognised Board level pensions business leader, consultant, chair of trustees and regulator with experience in both the private and public pensions sectors. He has expertise in pensions regulation, scheme design, implementing and managing the governance and operations of occupational pension schemes, and designing and directing their asset management programmes.
Prior to joining Capital Cranfield Pension Trustees Ltd as a professional trustee, Andrew was the CEO of LGPS Central Limited, an asset pool for eight Midlands Local Authority pension schemes with combined assets of c£45bn, the Executive Director for Regulatory Policy at The Pensions Regulator, where he was responsible for formulating the regulator’s DB, DC, AE and international policy, and a Partner at Aon Hewitt where he held a variety of consulting roles within the firm’s pensions, insurance and investment practices. He has also been the Chair of Trustees of a well-known charity’s pension plan.
Andrew brings an unusually wide range of commercial, management and technical expertise to trusteeship. He has a passion for pensions, sees problems from the perspective of members, trustees, sponsors and the regulator, and has a down to earth, pragmatic and collegiate approach to his work.
The BCF Trustees and management look forward to working with Andrew to drive improvements throughout the Scheme.
Have your say
What do you think about BCF?
How can we improve what we do?
We are looking for answers to these, and other questions, to help us understand what our members are looking for from BCF, and help us plan where next for the scheme.
Is it more updates you’re after, or maybe online member access and retirement planning tools…?
Please go to www.bcfpensiontrust.org/Feedback and let us know what you think.
