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One of country’s largest housing associations exits SHPS
One of the largest housing associations in the UK has left the Social Housing Pension Scheme (SHPS) as it seeks greater control of investment strategies.
The Guinness Partnership, which owns and manages 65,000 homes across the country, has announced its departure from the sector’s flagship pension scheme, becoming the latest in a string of high-profile landlords to do so in recent years.
The landlord, which Inside Housing understands represents as much as 5% of SHPS, said it has set up its own pension scheme, which it believes will give it greater control over investments.
A spokesperson for Guinness said: “Guinness exited the SHPS scheme in April 2021 and established a new Guinness pension scheme which will be administered by The Pension Trust.
“The transfer will enable Guinness to have greater influence over the investment strategy associated with the new scheme.”
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Guinness’ departure comes after multiple pension consultancy groups have predicted that the SHPS’ deficit is set to grow by £500m to £1.5bn in total, leading to potential increased contributions from employers.
The scheme is run by Leeds-based pension provider TPT Retirement Solutions and includes a defined benefit and defined contribution scheme with roughly 120,000 members in total.
Guinness follows fellow large housing associations Bromford, Clarion, Radian (now Abri) and Sanctuary in leaving the scheme in recent years.
Inside Housing previously reported that the financial pressures brought on by the coronavirus pandemic could lead to more housing associations look to exit the scheme.
A spokesperson for TPT Retirement Solutions said: “The Guinness Partnership transferred its members from the Social Housing Pension Scheme (SHPS) on 1 April 2021 into its own scheme.
“The decision means it continues its successful relationship with TPT Retirement Solutions, providing its members with continued access to TPT’s strong governance and award-winning administration and investments.
“The decision to transfer was communicated to all the members of the scheme, and the SHPS Scheme Committee worked constructively alongside The Guinness Partnership to ensure that the trustee’s regulatory duties were satisfied.
“SHPS continues to be a successfully managed multi-employer scheme with over 400 employers and c.120,000 members.”
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