UK Trustees Reluctant to Turn to Fiduciary Managers

18 June 2012 (PLANSPONSOREurope.com) - Independent UK trustees are reluctant to accept fiduciary management or related services from an incumbent investment consultant, according to research from Progress Metrics.

The research reveals just 20% of participants say this would be their preferred selection methodology.

The research also finds only one-quarter of independent trustees were approached on a scheme-specific basis, mostly by incumbent investment advisers.

Meanwhile, most participants would prefer to make their own selection by inviting direct tenders rather than accept their incumbent adviser’s service or retain a separate adviser.

“We encountered considerable resistance to fiduciary management with good governance, cost and conflicts of interest being most often cited as barriers,” said Fiach Maguire, CEO of Progress Metrics.

One independent trustee, who asked to be unidentified, said: “I believe that using fiduciary management is an abdication of trustee’s fiduciary responsibility to oversee investments.”

PLANSPONSOREurope Staff
editors@plansponsoreurope.com