Hymans Robertson names Wellard as Head of Alternative Risk Transfer Solutions

Hymans Robertson, a pensions and financial services consultancy, has announced the appointment of Richard Wellard as Head of Alternative Risk Transfer Solutions.

Wellard’s new role will put him in charge of a team that supports Trustees and sponsors who are looking into newer risk transfer options.

These options, which have seen a great deal of change in recent years, include alternative insurance products, capital backed solutions, and Superfunds.

Wellard’s role will be to support clients in the face of increased competition and continued growth in the risk transfer space.

This comes at a time when Clara Pensions, one of two non-insured risk transfer solutions currently in the market, is expected to become an established solution and the range of solutions for risk transfer is expanding.

Richard has been a partner at Hymans Robertson since 2015 and has led some of the most innovative transactions in this space.

Commenting on the new appointment, Lara Desay, Head of Risk Transfer, Hymans Robertson said: “Richard has played a key role in the firm’s thinking around the alternative risk transfer market.

“He has always been at the forefront of innovation in the risk transfer market and will continue this further helping our clients navigate the wide range of options available to them, ensuring that they choose the best path for their needs and for members.”

Wellard stated: “The past few years have been a period of huge change in the alternative risk transfer market, and I am delighted to take on this role at such a key and exciting time. With a growing range of different endgames and paths that pension schemes can take, it is important to objectively assess all the alternative solutions.”

We reached out to Hymans Robertson to find out more about the firm’s thinking on the alternative risk transfer opportunity.

Wellard, Head of Alternative Risk Transfer Solutions, told us, “Alternative risk transfer solutions all involve an investor taking some level of risk away from a pension scheme in exchange for return on their investment if things go well. The concept is well established in buy-ins and buy-outs, where the insurer puts up some of its own capital to protect members’ benefits in the insurance regime, and in return the insurer expects to earn a profit. Buy-ins and buy-outs are conventional risk transfer solutions. Alternative risk transfer solutions are where the capital comes from another investor, this capital is used to help protect members’ benefits, the investor is taking some risk away from the scheme, and in exchange the capital provider expects to earn a return. Alternative risk transfer solutions operate in the pensions regime, rather than the insurance regime. The most common examples are superfunds and “capital backed journey plans.

“As more and more pension schemes are considering whether they want to insure, these alternative risk transfer solutions are providing trustees and sponsors with different options around how they provide the best long-term outcome for their members.”

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