German engineering firm Siemens is moving more than 30,000 active and deferred defined contribution members to a master trust, alongside £1.6bn of assets.  

The transition of Siemens Investor Plan members and their assets to the Standard Life master trust concluded at the end of last year, following a competitive tender process.   

Standard Life said it believes this to be the largest move from a single trust DC scheme to a master trust in the UK market to date, based on the value of assets under management.  

Siemens’ DC advisers Isio supported a working group of Siemens and trustee representatives through the provider selection exercise.   

Jo Udall, EMEA benefits lead at Siemens, said the move would improve its people offering, citing Standard Life’s focus on digital developments, member engagement and commitment to future investment.  

She added: “In moving to a master trust arrangement, we were looking not only for a company that could handle a transaction of this size but that would become a partner in managing the pension arrangements for our 30,000 members.”   

Gail Izat, managing director for workplace at Standard Life said the deal was a “significant milestone” for the provider. 

Standard Life said about £3bn of new scheme assets were due to transfer to its workplace business over the next two years, and that it is also quoting on “a significant pipeline” of new schemes.  

Many companies transitioned their DC plans to master trusts in the late 2010s and at the beginning of the 2020s, including Telefónica, Vodafone, Veolia and Société Générale. However, some have since put the brakes on transactions, or even brought members back from external DC arrangements into hybrid trusts, allowing sponsors to use defined benefit surplus for making DC contributions.