PIC s Tracy Blackwell: Helping make a difference to society
Blackwell: Having a clear purpose is essential for well-run businesses
What does winning this award mean to you?
I am honoured to have won this award out of a group of highly respected and talented individuals! I have been passionate and proactive on issues of importance to the world of pensions especially as they relate to fairness for members and putting them at the heart of policy. It s also vital that we try to continue bridging the gap between the financial services industry and pensions - vital for our economy - and society. Focusing on these issues, which also really help inform how PIC is run, in particular focusing on our purpose, means that where we can, we can all contribute to a better society. This award is completely unexpected, but it does give me the opportunity to raise these issues and hopefully galvanise others! I am delighted to have won.
Pension superfunds face their moment of truth
Consolidators combine multiple employers’ schemes under one roof and are expected to do their first deals later this year
10 January 2021 • 4:00pm
Collapsed retailers such as House of Fraser, Debenhams and Arcadia group, owner of Topshop and Miss Selfridge, could all be early candidates for superfunds
When department store BHS went bust in 2016, it left behind not only the shell of a once proud British retailer, but a £571m hole in the pension fund intended to look after former staff in their retirement.
Its former owner, Sir Philip Green, who sold the chain for £1 a year earlier, eventually paid more than £350m to help plug the gap after intense pressure from MPs and regulators.
An investment firm that was once part of the world’s largest hedge fund manager has built a £500m stake in a specialist UK insurer responsible for the pensions of thousands of former British Steel and Co-op employees.
Sky News has learnt that HPS Investments, which was previously part of JP Morgan s Highbridge division, has struck a deal to acquire a further £30m of shares in Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC).
City sources said HPS had been snapping up shares in PIC through a string of secondary deals with shareholders including Legend Holdings and Istithmar, a Gulf-based fund.
It is now understood to hold a stake of just over 10% in the company, which had an embedded value at its half-year results of £4.5bn.