XPS Pensions Group has been appointed by the trustee of the Greene King Pension Scheme to provide actuarial and investment advice.

Greene King has been brewing beer and running pubs in Bury St. Edmunds from its formation in 1799 by 19-year-old Benjamin Greene.

It now runs over 2,900 pubs, restaurants and hotels and is the leading cask ale brewer in the UK.

The scheme has nearly £400m of assets providing pension benefits for around 2,500 members.

The trustees said they sought an adviser “to help them effectively work with the sponsor to ensure all members’ benefits can be paid”.
 
John Smith, chair of trustees, Greene King Pension Scheme, said: “We wanted an actuarial and investment adviser with smart ideas that would be proactive and would help us engage positively with the scheme sponsor.

“We are really pleased to have chosen XPS Pensions Group to work with us to help us design and manage a combined funding and investment strategy to ensure we can deliver on the pension promise to our members.”
 
Lisa Whitby, scheme actuary and head of XPS Leeds, said: “We are really pleased to be working with Greene King Pension Scheme trustees to help them ensure their members receive their benefits in full.

“We are particularly pleased that the trustees recognised that our smart solutions combined with our collaborative approach would help them work with the Sponsor to meet their objectives.”

The announcement followed the news that Greene King has agreed to be bought by Hong Kong firm CKA in a £2.7bn deal.