The job title ‘Pension Scheme Secretary’ is a misnomer. It often elicits images of a non-pensions technical person who takes the meeting minutes and makes the coffee. 

For some schemes, the job title ‘Scheme Secretary’ can be considered accurate, with the role being limited to arranging meeting dates and locations, inviting attendees, liaising with the Chair to set agendas, collating and circulating meeting papers (which might be written in the main by other people), attending the meeting to take the minutes and finally circulating the minutes and action schedule after the meeting.  The cycle of these activities is then repeated three or four months later.  While some of these tasks (such as setting meeting dates) can be done by a non-technical or junior person, accurately minuting complex technical discussions, which often take place at pace and are sometimes disjointed, requires a minute taker with a high level of pensions technical knowledge, or the job of ‘correcting’ the minutes falls on the advisers or Chair (at additional cost to the Scheme or Sponsor). 

For many schemes, however, the role of the Scheme Secretary is considerably wider and more significant than this.  With the increasing governance burden placed on Trustees by the Pensions Regulator, the role of the Scheme Secretary has evolved from a Trustee support role to a Trustee partnership role, particularly for those schemes that do not have a dedicated Pensions Manager employed by the Sponsor.  An experienced and knowledgeable Scheme Secretary works alongside the Trustees and has a close working relationship with the Chair.  The Secretary takes on many of the governance and operational duties as well as managing adviser relationships, special projects and day to day operations, thus freeing the Trustees to focus on key strategic issues. 

Pension Schemes have assets worth many millions or even billions of pounds.  They are set up as separate legal entities to their Sponsor but they are operated in the same way as the Sponsor, with the structure of the Board of Trustees (or Directors in the case of a corporate Trustee), together with various supporting roles and advisers mirroring that of the Sponsor.  The customers of the Scheme are the pension scheme members, and the mission statement is to provide an income to the members when they reach retirement.  If the Chair of Trustees has a role similar to a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), setting strategy and direction, then a Scheme Secretary, who takes on these wider duties, is akin to a Chief Operating Officer (COO), with a focus on the day to day operations of the Scheme and ensuring that everything gets done. When a Secretary and Chair have a close working relationship, the Secretary can be involved in strategic discussions with the Chair, helping to bounce around and formulate ideas, in the same way that the CEO and COO on the Sponsor’s Board of Directors would. The title ‘Scheme Secretary’ for this highly experienced and key professional can often minimise their role and importance in the minds of anyone who does not fully appreciate the scale of the role.  While it falls to all secretaries to arrange meetings and take minutes, for many secretaries their role is significantly broader – perhaps something like ‘Scheme Operations Officer’ is a more accurate title for these individuals?

20-20 Trustees can provide Secretarial Services, either as a standalone appointment or as a dual appointment with Independent Trustee or Chair of Trustees.  We can provide the core service of meetings and minutes, or we can provide the wider governance and project management services in addition.  The majority of our Secretaries are Trustee Directors or Associate Directors and they are supported by a team of Trustee Consultants, with work being assigned in line with appropriate levels of skill and experience.

Please contact Sue Quayle on 07926 081 632 or at sue.quayle@2020trustees.co.uk (or any member of our team) if you would like further information about our Secretarial Services.

Additionally, read Sue’s previous blog regarding the importance of a good Scheme Secretary.