Two UK Superfund Heads Quit on Cusp of First Deal

Alan Rubenstein and Marc Hommel have exited the fledgling DB consolidation, and one of its two capital backers has pulled out as well.

Two executives are exiting the 6-month-old Pension Superfund as it nears its first deal.

Alan Rubenstein and Marc Hommel will be leaving their posts as chief executive and head of origination for the defined benefit plan consolidator, which launched in March, as the organization prepares to announce its first deal from a “substantial pipeline” of business opportunity. The deal must be approved by UK watchdog The Pensions Regulator (TPR).

Subject to TPR’s clearance, the Superfund aims to acquire £20 billion in assets.

The Superfund, which is the first consolidator in the UK, gives companies struggling to meet their obligations a cheaper alternative to a buyout by taking bulk transfers of defined benefit assets and liabilities and turning them into a single pension plan.

To ensure the safety of the DB plans it takes in, the fund’s asset mix will take a page out of the $30 billion Pension Protection Fund’s playbook, heavily allocating to low-risk assets such as bonds.

Separately, Warburg Pincus, one of the Superfund’s two capital backers, has pulled out of the arrangement. It said it will no longer invest at this point but didn’t rule out reinvesting after the Superfund grows. Pincus’ seed money remains intact.

Disruptive Capital, the other backer, will continue to fund the consolidation. It did not specify how much money it will invest.

The Pension Superfund had initially raised £500 million ($651.2 million) in capital from Disruptive and Warburg.

Luke Webster, the Superfund’s chief investment officer, will become CEO for now, with other appointments to be named as soon as possible, the organization confirmed. Pension Superfund declined to comment on why Rubenstein and Hommel quit.

«