Railpen, which manages the Railways Pension Scheme, is selling its third-party pensions administration business to consulting firm Broadstone for an undisclosed sum after two decades in the market.  

A strategic review of the defined benefit pensions landscape led to the decision to sell at Railpen, which is a mutual company owned by the pension trustees. The £34bn Railways Pension Scheme will continue to be administered in-house and by a separate team.  

"We are proud of our achievements as a third-party administration provider,” said Railpen chief executive Andy Bord said. “In Broadstone we have found a partner that provides a continued commitment to the highest levels of service to members and a strong client-partnership model.”  

The proceeds of the sale have not been earmarked for any project, and mallowstreet understands they will go towards the normal running costs. 

The TPA business of Railpen administers 20 pension schemes of varying sizes with more than 110,000 members in total, including Amey, the British Transport Police Force Superannuation Fund, the BOCM Pauls Pension Scheme, the Drax 2019 Defined Benefit Pension Scheme and others. The service provider found that as the closed schemes move to consolidation, they would be better served by a provider with more scale and the relevant technology in place.   

The approximately 100 staff in the TPA team will transfer to Broadstone under transfer of undertakings (protection of employment) regulations. They include administrators as well as client relationship managers, payroll and technology specialists.  

The CEO of Broadstone, Tony Gusmao, said: "This acquisition further strengthens our position in the administration market and aligns with our growth strategy, by securing great talent and large, respected clients."   

Some of Railpen’s clients are due to connect to the pensions dashboards in the next few months, and work on this will continue during the transition.