Cardano Group has completed the acquisition of Now Pensions, a week after the master trust received authorisation from The Pensions Regulator (TPR).
The deal means Cardano now manages over £25bn of assets and employs 350 people across its core markets of the UK and the Netherlands.
The acquisition brings together Cardano’s investment skills and experience in the defined benefit and defined contribution (DC) markets with Now Pensions’ AE platform and administration capabilities.
Cardano said the combined business will create a full-service platform for growth as the UK’s workplace pensions market gathers momentum and DC solutions develop in multi-employer master trust environments.
Now Pensions trustee chairwoman Joanne Segars said: “With the transaction now complete, the trustee directors are delighted to be able to leverage Cardano’s wealth of expertise on technology and their aligned commitment to good governance to the benefit of members.
“We look forward to working closely with the Cardano team to deliver the best possible outcomes for our members.”
Now Pensions serves 1.7 million pension savers, and manages £1.4bn in assets. Chief executive Patrick Luthi added that it was an “exciting time”, and the acquisition would allow a focus on “delivering significant benefits” for clients and members.
Cardano chief executive Michaël De Lathauwer commented: “Completing the acquisition of Now Pensions is a key milestone for our group.”
He added that with master trust authorisation now secured, the combined business offerings will “create a new force for the UK pensions landscape”.
It is exactly one year today (1 October) since the master trust authorisation regime kicked off. There are now just six master trusts waiting for approval from TPR, with the BCF Pension Trust and the Carey Workplace Pension Trust’s authorisations announced today.