W and FC Bonham and Sons transfers pension to Financial Assistance Scheme

W and FC Bonham and Sons Retirement Fund is transferring its contracted-out pension scheme to the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS).

Pope Anderson assisted the trustees in winding up the scheme in the period before it was eligible for the FAS.

The FAS. which is managed by the board of the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), makes payments to top up scheme benefits for eligible members of schemes that are in wind up. It does this by paying assistance to members so their overall benefit is topped up to a maximum of 90% of the fund benefit.

Originally committed to buy-out, the fund became eligible for FAS when the criteria changed permitting entry to under-funded schemes where the sponsoring employer had not suffered an insolvency event.

Rodney Cotton, director and chair of Patriot Trustees, said: “Pope Anderson’s in-depth knowledge of the whole FAS transition process ensured the smooth transition of the fund.

“We were kept informed every step of the way and benefited from their pro-active project management approach.”