Actuary found guilty of ‘misconduct’

Actuary found guilty of ‘misconduct’

An actuary in charge of a pension scheme which collapsed, £6m in deficit, has been found guilty of misconduct

David Kershaw, who was the actuary of the pension scheme of Edinburgh
engineering firm
Blyth &
Blyth
, has been found guilty of eight charges of misconduct by a
disciplinary tribunal at the
Faculty
of Actuaries in Scotland
, after causing a £6m deficit which forced the
company into receivership.

The company’s private pension scheme collapsed in 2003 when it went into
receivership, wiping out the pension savings of about 150 staff. The tribunal
has still not issue a punishment but Kershaw faces expulsion from the profession
for up to five years or a hefty fine.

Kershaw was found guilty of failing to advise the Blyth & Blyth trustees
on the implications of allowing two company directors to take early retirement
not long before the scheme collapsed, which accounted for almost £1m of the £6m
deficit.

Kershaw was also found in breach of the code governing the actuarial
profession because he failed to advise the company’s trustees to consider other
options when they approved a change to the scheme’s ‘Normal Retirement Date’. It
emerged the company raised the pension age for employees from 65 to 75 not long
before it went into receivership.

Further reading:

Investigation board extends remit to actuarial
profession

FDs prepare for pension chaos

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