An investment platform created by a financial adviser has launched an auto-enrolment mastertrust to help small businesses.
Strawberry Pensions, provided in association with Trust Pensions, will be a guaranteed mastertrust, and administered by professional trustee company Bridge Trustees Limited.
Employers will not be charged to join the scheme but can select additional options to tailor the set-up process, such as an assisted set-up service and assessment and communications middleware.
Financial adviser James Priday, founder and managing director of Strawberry Invest, said: “The Strawberry Pensions solution introduces a simple and efficient way for small to medium-sized business employers to meet their auto-enrolment requirements.
“Given that 1.4m SMEs will have to do so in the coming few years, we anticipate this additional capacity is definitely required.”
Auto-enrolment started in October 2012 with the largest employers, and is now moving onto small and medium-sized employers, with the prcess due to be complete in 2017.
Adviser view
Nigel Sycamore, director of Yorkshire-based Clear Workplace, said: “My point of view is that auto-enrolment is an area in which businesses should aim to seek advice, and the onus is on the adviser community to provide that at the right price.
“Some businesses have the capacity and time to go DIY, but it is relatively complex.”
