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Employer Profile

About us
Punter Southall was established in 1988 by Jonathan Punter and Stuart Southall with nine employees to provide actuarial and investment advice to UK pension schemes. In 1999, Punter Southall became a limited company; this was an important step in our company’s growth strategy.

The business was originally set up to introduce a fresh, competitive presence to a largely static pension services market and primarily to put client service first. These guiding principles have not changed.

Our key services to occupational pension schemes and their related employers include:

• Actuarial consulting
• Pensions administration
• Defined contribution consulting
• Health and protection consulting
• International consulting
• Investment consulting
• Transaction services.

We currently have seven sister companies, which form the Punter Southall Group, providing a unique combination of actuarial, pensions consultancy, administration and investment services specifically for: pension scheme trustees, corporate sponsors, private clients and institutions.

Key facts about Punter Southall Group

• 700 employees in ten locations throughout the UK
• 1,000 companies and trustees of pension schemes receiving services including: actuarial, administration, investment, employee and risk benefits advice
• 4,000 private clients
• 120,000 occupational pension scheme members administered by us
• £8 billion assets under management
• £18.75 billion assets under advice.

Our services
Our Trustee and Employer Consulting teams provide friendly, professional and jargon-free advice for all aspects of occupational pension schemes including: funding, investment strategy, benefit design and reporting of pension costs in company accounts. We also have a wealth of experience in takeovers, mergers, acquisitions and management of buy-out situations. This has long been a growth area and existing clients, lawyers, venture capital houses and strategy consultants, who appreciate our practical and commercially minded approach, regularly instruct us. Punter Southall Transaction Services is our specialised division dedicated to mergers and acquisitions pensions consultancy. We also provide high quality pensions administration for a large number of our clients.

Our actuarial and administration employees work closely together in multidisciplinary client teams. This encourages cross-fertilisation of ideas, a wider understanding of our clients’ needs and enhances the services we provide.

Minimum academic requirements
A 2.1 Honours degree (any discipline), 340 UCAS points or equivalent (excluding General Studies and AS level grades) including a grade A in A level Mathematics. In addition to the necessary academic achievements, candidates need to be able to demonstrate the ability to work as part of a team and possess excellent interpersonal skills both verbally and in writing.

Professional development
We offer generous study leave and pay for course notes, annual subscriptions and examinations. Actuarial students are assigned a mentor, who is normally a newly qualified actuary, to support them in their studies. Students are given the opportunity to sit mock exams before their first actuarial exams. In addition, employees are offered an induction programme upon joining and an extensive programme of internal training courses that are held throughout the year, together with on-the-job training. Career planning and personal development are assisted by an in house appraisal system which applies to all employees. Other forms of training include regular staff nights, weekly actuarial technical training and technical seminars.

We are committed to the continued support of our employees, which is reflected in our Investor in People (IiP) accreditation.