Trustee Services

Acumen & Trust Pension Trustees DAC was established in 1996 as an independent, professional trustee company. Acumen & Trust Pension Trustees DAC is a member of the Association of Pensioneer Trustees of Ireland. The company is approved to act as a Pensioneer Trustee by the Irish Revenue Commissioners. The trustees include qualified members of the Irish Institute of Pension Managers, the Pension Management Institute in the UK, the Irish Taxation Institute and the Life Insurance Association.

Our approach to trusteeship

Acumen & Trust Pension Trustees DAC currently acts as an independent Trustee to over 250 pension schemes in Ireland. These schemes include Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution arrangements with membership from one to thousands. Employers operate in all sectors of the economy and include both multinational and indigenous Irish businesses.

Acumen & Trust Pension Trustees DAC acts as a sole or joint trustee, often acting as Chairperson of the Trustees. A large number of the schemes are advised by Acumen & Trust DAC and many others are advised by leading actuarial, legal and consultancy firms in Ireland.  Assets are invested across a very broad spectrum of financial institutions in Ireland and abroad.

The role of the trustee

The role of the Trustee is to safeguard the scheme assets for the benefit of the members and other beneficiaries. However, trustees must have regard to a number of layers of both regulations and best practice. In particular, the disclosure regulations of the Pensions Act must be met, especially as the regulations are subject to alteration and development over time. The experience of dealing with a wide variety of schemes and practical issues over the last 20 years has proved valuable to all our clients.

Corporate Governance extends to all pension schemes as it is the Trustees’ responsibility to ensure that both statutory requirements and Trust Deed requirements are met at all times. As Trustee, we challenge the advisors and providers to account for scheme activities and to ensure that member interests are foremost in mind.

Small self-administered pension schemes

We act as the Pensioneer Trustee for almost 200 Small Self-Administered Pension Schemes. While these schemes generally have only one member, the asset values can be considerable. As Pensioneer Trustee we have to be vigilant, ensuring that Pensions Act requirements are met, beneficiaries’ interests are met and also that the multiple investment proposals are in keeping with the purpose of the Trust and Revenue’s regulations.

If you have any questions in relation to our Trustee Services, or if you would like further information on Trusteeship, please contact Deirdre Cantwell our expert in this area.