As part of Mercer’s Efficient Financing Group, John and his team work with corporates and trustees of defined benefit pension plans to find ways to make pension funding more efficient – to reduce the cost of funding pensions for the company, whilst improving the security of benefits for pension plan members.
They do this by viewing it as a business issue, not just a pensions issue in isolation. Through this lens, the team are able to find solutions that are more acceptable for trustees, and value-adding for companies. His solutions and experience include implementing surety bonds, letters of credit, SPVs, parent company guarantees, escrow accounts and charges over assets, and incorporating these solutions effectively into an overall pension strategy. In recent years, John’s advice has saved his clients over £0.5Bn in pension contributions, whilst improving security for pension plan members.
John has worked at Mercer for almost 10 years, advising on many high-profile clients and transactions. Prior, he spent a similar amount of time in a Big 4 professional services firm, providing a wide range of advice covering accounting, M&A, pension strategy, trustee negotiations, and regulatory capital advice for financially regulated firms.