Sackers advises Royal Mail Pension Plan on its innovative CIO outsourcing

Royal Mail Pension Plan (RMPP) has selected BlackRock to manage its £8.8bn pension scheme assets as an outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO). The transfer of staff and assets completed on 1 February.

Sackers advised the Trustee and executive team, helping them to navigate the complex regulatory, legal and governance hurdles involved. This included negotiating the new investment management agreement with BlackRock and advising on a bespoke employee transfer agreement. Sackers’ legal project management team also provided support throughout the project.

Richard Law-Deeks, Chief Executive Officer of RMPP, said: “This is an important milestone for the Plan. It has enabled the Trustee to meet its objectives of protecting the retirement benefits of members while at the same time ensuring robust oversight of future investments and streamlining governance arrangements. It would not have been possible without the excellent support from all the team at Sackers.”

The Sackers team was led by partners Fuat Sami and Ralph McClelland. Fuat Sami commented: “We were delighted to have been able to combine our in-depth knowledge of the Plan together with our investment experience to help bring this innovative project to a successful conclusion, particularly given the commercial sensitivities and tight timescales involved.”