The starting point is to come up with clearly defined selection criteria and go through a well thought out due diligence process to ensure you are getting a trustee who meets the specific needs of your scheme.
The structure of professional trustee firms and the qualifications of those acting as trustee representatives varies widely. Trustees can act individually, collectively or as corporate bodies and this will impact on the approach taken as well as potentially on the level of security and protection available.
It will also impact on the amount of resource available to each client, the basis of any fees charged and the finance available to invest in important areas such as record keeping and data protection.
Many professional trustees tend to be actuaries, lawyers, investment advisers, accountants or highly experienced pension professionals and as such, all have specialist pension knowledge and experience which has equipped them for the role of a professional trustee.
However, this is not always the case and companies and trustee boards need to really scrutinise not only the company the trustee represents but also the specific experience and qualifications of the trustee representative, or representatives, who will be working with them.
The selection process should reflect the exact requirements of the specific role, namely, do you need a non executive trustee, a chairman of trustees, a trustee to lead the investment or audit committee or more of a generalist with wider experience available? Do you need someone with acquisition experience, investment experience or data management experience?
Whatever is required, make sure the potential appointee has that specific experience or at least has easy access to it. These issues are all much more important than small variations in price.
Ultimately, you need to be comfortable with the professional trustee you engage and must be confident that you can develop a strong professional relationship. Frequently there may be contentious decisions which need to be taken or issues which need to be addressed, and you need to be sure you can work positively with the trustee appointed to resolve any issues.