Deloitte named a global leader in Defined Benefit Consulting by ALM Intelligence

New York, NY, 18 March 2016 – Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (Deloitte Global) is pleased to announce that ALM Intelligence has named Deloitte member firms (Deloitte) as global leaders in Defined Benefit (DB) Consulting in their report entitled Retirement Consulting: Defined Benefit 2015.

Specifically for Deloitte, ALM Intelligence notes “Deloitte’s approach to DB clients is largely centered upon de-risking pensions for sponsors as the threat of increasing liabilities continues to mount. Deloitte assists their clients in developing investment strategies to improve portfolio outlooks in addition to recommendations for actions to be taken to reduce the burden of pension liabilities, such as lump sum buyouts.”

According to Jason Flynn, Deloitte Global Rewards Leader, “The Deloitte network’s global footprint, multi-functional services, and combined employer and provider view enable us to serve clients on their most complex engagements, such as pension de-risking and global mergers and acquisitions.”

The report lays out the opportunities and challenges for Defined Benefit consulting providers focusing on market trends, client spending forecasts, and the provider landscape. ALM Intelligence reviews defined benefit consulting through the lens of six key capabilities that are critical to DB clients: plan design, compliance, pension risk, transformation, communications strategy, and IT innovation.

“Clients appreciate that we bring deep technical knowledge within the context of broader business issues and events such as governance, workforce trends and M&A strategy,” says Mark McClintock, partner at Deloitte UK.

Additional Findings

• “Deloitte has a diversified client base for DB plans that spans multiple regions and, as such, affords the firm unique perspectives on trends within a variety of geographic markets, such as the increasing drive for portfolio diversification in the US and the impact of UK legislation on pension plans’ regulatory requirements. This puts Deloitte in a strong position to serve global plan sponsor clients seeking holistic strategies and plan designs that will accommodate geographically diverse workforces.”
• “The firm also works with insurance companies in the pension risk space, particularly in the US, offering pricing and strategy support. As buyout activities increase in frequency, this relationship will also be beneficial to Deloitte’s plan sponsor clients as they work to determine the best services to use in their buyout strategies.”
  
• “As a multi-service firm, Deloitte has a strong variety of consulting services that are tailored to defined benefit clients. However, its greatest strength in this market is found in the firm’s pension risk capability through the development of investment strategies designed to stem the flow of increasing liabilities on plan sponsors.”
  
• “Globally operating within the defined benefit consulting market, Deloitte is responsive to clients in various regions, recognizing challenges from local legislation and economic impacts, and providing sensible solutions to those challenges.”