Deloitte Launches Pension Pooling Offering

November 1, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Deloitte has announced the launch of a pension pooling offering and is working with consumer products group Unilever to implement pooling in practice.

The pooled pension offering could save multinational businesses millions, Deloitte said, according to IPE.com. The establishment of a single pooled vehicle, in which international pension funds invest, can help companies capitalize on economies of scale, increased governance oversight and reduced administration, according to the company.

Pooling is designed to let companies with pension funds in several countries combine their assets into a single pooling vehicle. The vehicle then invests the underlying funds. Until now, Deloitte asserted, regulatory, tax, and legal barriers have prevented pooling for equity investments. With this new vehicle, Deloitte hopes to overcome these hurdles.

Deloitte cited the success of Northern Trust in pooling assets, claiming that the company has seen positive results such as an increase of 70 basis points on investment performance in some cases, as well as an increased return on alternative investments.

Deloitte ( www.deloitte.com ) offers services in the tax, audit, consulting, and financial advisory sectors.

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