Our pension audit specialists use their extensive experience to benchmark against sector best practice. A full range of in-house support includes actuaries, asset valuers, cyber, and tax specialists.

Pension-scheme trustees need to respond to changing regulation and evolving risks. A fully tailored approach from a specialist team will provide the assurance you need; whether it’s statutory compliance or bespoke additional assurance for a specific purpose, we have the right people, with the right experience, to support your scheme governance with a robust assurance service.

  • Modern audit methodology
  • Benchmarked insight
  • Sector developments
  • Modern audit methodology
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    Focus on key risks in your scheme supported by the latest pension-specific digital tools. IT audit-approach; providing both added assurance over large data sets to target outliers, and efficiencies in completing the audit-testing process
  • Benchmarked insight
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    Large client base enables industry-wide comparison of governance structures and our knowledge of peer-to-peer scheme best practice will help to keep you abreast of emerging issues
  • Sector developments
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    Expert guidance that keeps you aware of changes across the pensions sector in a wide range of areas
Neil Knights
Partner, Head of Pensions
Neil Knights

Why Grant Thornton

We’re one of the largest providers of audit services to the sector, delivering to trustee boards of all types of pension schemes: DB, DC, Hybrid, Master Trust, and Common Investment Funds. We act for schemes of all sizes and complexity, from those with assets of only £15 million up to £50 billion.

135+
pension team
330+
scheme audits

21

of the top 100 UK schemes in our portfolio

5
UK pension centres of excellence

The occupational pension scheme market has been one of our focus sectors since the mid-1990s. It means we’ve built teams with the depth of experience that you – and your trustee boards – expect and require.

Pensions assurance is so much broader than just the statutory audit. While that will remain a compliance necessity, and a core service we take pride in delivering to the highest quality, evolving trustee governance demands have expanded the breadth of pensions assurance. We’re increasingly asked to support trustees in the provision of internal audit, cyber risk, bespoke agreed-upon procedures testing, internal control reporting, and risk management assurance services. The requirements of the Ethical Standard do mean that these wider assurance services are often not possible where we’re appointed as statutory auditor, but can be delivered as standalone services.

We firmly believe a statutory audit should add value to trustee governance, rather than just a minimum compliance tick-box service. This is achieved through our use of pension specialists deeply embedded in the sector who can provide insightful observations and benchmarking to sector best practice from their experience of peer schemes.

Pensions

Helping trustees, sponsors, and key stakeholders meet their objectives

Award-winning covenant, actuarial and funding advice for DB pension schemes

Supporting our pensions audit clients beyond compliance

The challenge
Our client previously had a minimum compliance audit that provided no insightful recommendations to improve internal controls arising from the audit process.
The solution
Our team identified investment managers had been over‑charging the Scheme and there was a duplication of effort between the in-house team and Scheme advisers.
The result
New risk management processes were implemented to provide greater visibility over mitigating controls for the Trustee, ensuring they operate as expected.
How we help
“My team and I have dedicated our careers to the pensions sector because we enjoy helping trustees with their governance responsibilities. I'm very proud of the quality of both our audits and our client service experience. We offer the best value for trustees seeking a quality scheme audit.”
Neil Knights Partner, Head of Pensions
"We have a successful track record of delivering high quality assurance on pension scheme risk and control frameworks. Combining deep knowledge and experience of auditing pension schemes of all sizes with specialists across all risk types we provide the comfort demanded by scheme trustees.”
David Cuss Managing Director, Internal Audit