Higher education services

The past few years have been a time of fast-paced change in the Higher Education (HE) sector and Barnett Waddingham have been at the forefront of addressing some of these changes.

Our HE team, led by Paul Hamilton, Partner and Head of Higher Education, have built a reputation for our ability to identify key challenges and help our clients respond to these promptly.

Our HE-specific experience stretches over 20 years and includes advice across a top-tier client list, spanning the UK and including both Russell Group and post-92 universities.

The team is superbly equipped to advise scheme trustees and institutions on defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) matters ranging from pension scheme funding and investment right through to handling administration smoothly and efficiently, together with applying state of the art technology to support these schemes, as well as risk management, staff well-being and pension tax matters.

Our expertise extends across the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), Teachers Pension scheme (TPS) and other nationwide schemes. We also advise extensively on university Self-Administered Trusts (SATs) and DC schemes.

In recent months, following the sharp increase to the employer contribution rate required by schools that participate in TPS, we have been working with many Independent Schools to help them develop their approach to pensions. This can range from a simple analysis of costs to a full scale review of pensions and benefits, with several recent cases exploring the full range of available alternatives, including support staff options.