Ask Harry Eastwood: why provisioning calculations is the best thing for your business 

This week we talk to Harry Eastwood, TCC’s Actuarial and Redress Director, about why provisioning calculations will give you faster and more accurate results. 

We know that calculating redress can be challenging and full of unforeseen roadblocks. Unsurprisingly, then, the idea of putting important redress provisioning work in the hands of an external partner can be intimidating. 

Yet outsourcing the right work at the right time is a great move for businesses, especially when it involves complex products like Defined Benefit (DB) pension transfers. 

Harry shares four top reasons why provisioning your redress is the best thing for your business. 

1. You don’t have to manage training and competency levels 

With the proposals to require personal investment firms (PIFs) to set aside capital for potential redress on the horizon, you need to ensure calculations are as accurate and reliable as possible. Your outsourcing partner will already have a fully trained and expert team, experienced in the DB transfers space, so you don’t need to worry about the risk of errors. You can easily tell the quality and credibility of an outsourcing team from their previous work.

2. Experienced specialist teams can do it quicker 

Without the distractions of other BAU work, external providers can not only kick-off your project more quickly, but they can complete it faster too. The extra experience and understanding of the complexities of DB transfer cases means an outsourced team could potentially have an estimate of your overall liability in less than two weeks, depending on volumes. 

3. You can have your risk assessed by a truly independent party

In-house teams can feel pressured or influenced by internal factors, and often this results in an inaccurate or overly optimistic estimate of your liability. But when there’s a lot at stake, you need absolute clarity about your liability – only then can you make informed decisions about the future of your business. In our experience, you can only get that from an independent, third-party provider. 

4. You’ll curb the risk of reputational damage

While it’s not yet necessary to do a full review of your past defined benefit business, staying on the front foot and being proactive about delivering the right client outcomes, means you’re less likely to face damage to your hard-earned reputation in the eyes of the FCA and your clients. 

…And here are three more reasons for why outsourcing to TCC is even better: 

• We have expertise in the riskiest business and most complex products

Not many internal teams, and few outsourcing providers, have our level of expertise when it comes to particularly high-risk and complex products like DB transfers. With us, you get a team of experienced actuaries who have calculated millions of pounds of redress in this area – including over 2,000 cases under the FG17/9 and PS22/13 guidance. 

• You get more for your money

We’ve spent the past 20 years helping the financial advice industry navigate regulatory obligations, and we understand the pressure the industry is under at the moment. So, we always try to find commercially balanced solutions that work for your business. 

• You have access to end-to-end support

While we wait for the outcome of the FCA’s discovery work, many of our clients are choosing to do a deeper dive into their back book and get a more accurate view of their liabilities. Our experienced review and redress teams work together closely to provide a seamless, fully managed service – taking the entire project off your hands and allowing you to focus on running your business. 

We’ve calculated redress across the breadth of financial services products and sectors, contact us today to learn how we can benefit your firm.

Harry Eastwood is a Actuarial and Redress Director at TCC Group.