The National Pension Trust, part of XPS Pensions Group, has been granted master trust authorisation.

The TPR’s Determinations Panel considered the requirements under the five criteria in section 5(3) of the Pension Schemes Act 2017 and granted authorisation on the underlying regulations that:
 
1. the persons involved in the scheme are fit and proper persons

2. the scheme is financially sustainable

3. each scheme funder meets the requirements set out in section 10

4. the systems and processes used in running the scheme are sufficient to ensure that it is run effectively, and

5. the scheme has an adequate continuity strategy.

Ian Davies, National Pension Trust chair of trustees, said: ‘’The authorisation process has been a significant undertaking and involved a tremendous amount of collaboration between the Trustees, our Funder XPS, our strategists and our administrators.

“I was always very confident in the strength of our governance and the quality of our people, proposition and processes and it is gratifying to have achieved authorisation and have that formally recognised.’’
 
Dave Hodges, partner and head of National Pension Trust, said: “The National Pension Trust is fully committed to providing the highest standards in DC workplace pension solutions and we are delighted that this has been recognised in achieving authorisation from TPR.

“We remain fully supportive of the authorisation process to ensure high standards are achieved and maintained in the master trust market and that members receive the best possible outcomes.”