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Clara-Pensions, the UK’s first and so far only Defined Benefit (DB) pension 'superfund’, has appointed leading audit, tax and consulting firm 91̽�� as its audit partner. 

Clara, which is the first DB pension scheme consolidator to be authorised by The Pensions Regulator and to welcome members, operates as a ‘bridge’ to insured buyout for corporate DB pension schemes who can’t yet reach the insurance market. When schemes join Clara, additional capital is injected by Clara’s investors. This provides additional security to scheme members and enables Clara to de-risk the scheme’s investment approach as well as providing schemes with the benefits of scale. Schemes typically spend 5-10 years inside Clara before being transferred to an insurer where members pensions will continue to be paid. 

Clara welcomed its first 9,600 members from the Sears Retail Penson Scheme in November last year followed by a further 10,400 members from the Debenhams Pension Scheme in March 2024. The company has an active pipeline of schemes looking to join Clara in the coming months and add to its £1.2bn of assets under management. 

91̽��’s head of pensions, Ian Bell said: “Clara is the pensions industry’s first ever authorised superfund, so it’s exciting to be selected as their audit provider to support them on this journey. We look forward to working closely with Clara’s management team, given the complexity and timescales involved in delivering the corporate and pension scheme audits. The way Clara is structured presents some interesting audit challenges, and therefore our approach will need to be agile and innovative. We anticipate Clara will grow rapidly as demand for their unique offering will be high.”

Simon True, CEO of Clara-Pensions said: “Clara’s appointment of 91̽��as our auditor continues our approach of sourcing a wide range of expert partners to support our work delivering something genuinely innovative to the pensions industry. Ian’s team will bring additional rigour and expertise to our business as it continues to grow into an organisation responsible for tens of thousands of members and several billion pounds of their pension assets.”