Mercer teams up with Standard Life, Friends Provident and Zurich to launch corporate wrap platform

Standard Life, Friends Provident and Zurich have been selected by the consultant to provide companies and their employees with access to pensions and other workplace savings vehicles.

Mercer spent two years developing its workplace savings solution, launched today, which it says meets the needs of employers looking to better manage cost and risk ahead of changes in pensions taxation and auto-enrolment.

Mercer's platform enables employers to make accessible a range of employee benefits through one portal, including pensions, ISA, unit trust, share plans, and flexible benefits programmes.

Mercer UK chief executive Alan Whalley says: "Employers need a pension solution that is going to manage cost and risk, be flexible and appealing to employees and with the option of broadening out workplace savings into vehicles other than pure pensions."

Mercer will guide employers to the appropriate solution for their workforce in terms of the components on the platform and which of the three providers is best suited to them.

Whalley adds: "We are not expecting to make changes to the providers in the short term but if they get into a stage they are not delivering the functionality we will retire them from the platform and bring another one in."

Underpinning the wrap sits an investment platform containing A-rated best in class funds selected by Mercer's worldwide investment manager research team. The managers are monitored at least quarterly, and monthly in many cases.

Mercer is in discussions with three companies; a FTSE financial services company with more than 2,000 employees, a media company with 10,000 plus employees and a retailer with 25,000 employers.

Emma Douglas will spearhead delivery of the solution when she joins Mercer from BlackRock at the end of this month. The team also includes principals Katherine Photiou and Steve Charlton, and Alan Baker, who previously led Mercer's de-risking solution.