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20 years of
stand out moments

Our viewpoint

I never expected to stay in my first job for 20+ years. Now, with LCP having just won 20 years of Excellence in Consultancy at the UK Pensions Awards, it’s got me thinking about how often our committed, client-focused people here have been ahead of the curve, often pioneering industry firsts.  

Our industry is fortunate to have many excellent consulting firms in all disciplines – actuarial, investment, legal, covenant, communications, technology – so being recognised for this special award as a firm that has consistently stood out is truly humbling.

As part of my trip down memory lane, I’ve come up with some of the most memorable moments of my 20 years (and counting) with LCP. It’s been a tough job to narrow it down!

  • Creating LCP DCoder, the stochastic DC communication tool launched in 2002 to help scheme members understand and improve their pension outcomes - at least 10 years before the market was ready for such a thing.
  • Being the first firm to create dedicated “Trustee Consulting” and “Corporate Consulting” practices in 2004, thereby creating better client-focused advice - a model that became the industry norm over the following few years.
  • As pioneers in the insurance de-risking market, helping a client manage their longevity and investment risks by completing the first £100m pensioner buy-in in 2007. 10 years on, LCP remains the market leader, having been appointed as lead adviser on 40% of all £100m+ buy-ins and buy-outs.
  • Launching LCP Visualise in 2013, which brought together our valuation and investment models in a single on-line tool provided to clients as part of our consulting service. We were the first consultancy to make a home-grown web-based modeller of this sophistication widely available to clients, helping them to make better informed decisions. It is now used by 290 clients with assets under advice of £160bn. 
  • The partner-led buy-out in December 2016 of the stake in the firm previously held by Alexander Forbes, which was a massive vote of confidence in the firm’s strategy, our clients and our people, and underlines the independent, owner-managed culture that our clients so clearly warm to.
  • But perhaps most of all, the fact that the first piece of work I did as a graduate 20 years ago was for a client that I still advise today. That’s really special to me.

I feel as if I’ve experienced a lot in my first 20 years at LCP: the euphoria of the great client wins, the agony of the ones that got away, the successful ideas that clients love, the whacky ideas that were never going anywhere. But fundamentally it comes down to having worked with the best colleagues and clients that any consultant could reasonably hope for, and with whom I look forward to sharing the next 20 years of client-focused innovation.