Just as plan sponsors are moving away from defined benefit (DB) pensions, so too is global consultant Mercer.
On October 7, Mercer told its 24 public U.S. DB clients that it will no longer be offering investment consulting services. Charles Salmans, partner and director of global public relations with Mercer said the company is working on transition plans for these organizations. “We want the transition as smooth as possible.”
A statement released by the company said, “We will be working with our defined benefit clients to help ensure a transition period so that they can identify another investment consulting firm that can perform defined benefit investment consulting advisory services.”
The statement also said that this decision was made “after a comprehensive review of our business and in light of changes in the public fund marketplace.”
Salman indicated that the decision is not directly related to either of the lawsuits that Mercer has settled in the last year and a half, regarding actuarial services. In both of those cases Mercer denied liability.
“We stand behind the professionalism and integrity of our investment consulting work for the public sector. Having said that, we are always evaluating our business and making prudent business decisions, and risk is certainly one factor that we consider in these decisions,” the company said.
Mercer’s private clients and those in Canada need not fret. The company will continue to offer investment consulting services to plans outside of the U.S. and to private DB plans in the U.S. 