What Barnett Waddingham does

Barnett Waddingham is a UK-based professional services consultancy founded in 1989, providing actuarial, administration and consultancy services across risk, pensions, investment and insurance. The firm employs more than 1,700 professionals across eleven UK offices and is a trusted partner to 24% of FTSE 100 companies and more than 15% of FTSE 350 companies, alongside public sector organisations, insurers, charities and high-net-worth individuals.

The firm operates a portfolio of proprietary technology platforms that sit alongside its core advisory practice. These include BW Risk Portal (over 1,000 hours of risk content across 20+ topics), Illuminate (DB pensions technology), GEM (DC pensions and workforce data, trademarked), BW CORE (pensions governance), DB Navigator (DB endgame planning), Insight (trustee analytics), DataSure (DB data readiness), validateR (capital modelling), CARAT (carbon emissions reporting), Celestia Risk (enterprise risk management), Swarm AI (real-time decision analytics), SIIMPLIFY (Solvency II SCR calculator), KIDs for PRIIPs, Enlighten (LGPS training), 4me (workforce benefits), SIPPs Online, and the AI Adoption Toolkit co-developed with Lloyd's Market Association. The firm rebuilt its actuarial valuation models in Python to eliminate vendor licensing costs, supporting 2024 year-end valuations across five additional clients with zero external audit queries.

Barnett Waddingham generates revenue primarily through professional services fees (actuarial consulting, pension administration, investment consulting, bulk annuity advisory) with a subscription/recurring layer from technology platforms and SIPP administration. The firm reported revenue of £181m for FY2024/25, up 12.8% year-on-year, with actuarial consulting exceeding £50m for the first time and pension administration exceeding £57m. Its risk transfer team completed 30 transactions representing over 10% of UK market deals. In April 2025, global insurance intermediary Howden acquired Barnett Waddingham, taking combined pension consulting revenue to approximately £276m and initiating a rebrand to Howden from autumn 2025.

Name

Barnett Waddingham

Legal name

Barnett Waddingham LLP

Website

https://www.barnett-waddingham.co.uk/

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Barnett Waddingham is a UK-based professional services consultancy providing actuarial, pension administration, investment consulting and risk management services to FTSE 100/350 corporates, public sector bodies, insurers and high-net-worth individuals, with over 1,700 professionals across eleven UK offices.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Actuarial and Pension Consulting Services

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Risk Management Consulting (Enterprise & Operational Risk) (FSAEADAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Employee Benefits Brokerage & Consulting (FSAEADAC)

Keywords

• Actuarial consulting services
• Pension scheme administration
• Investment consulting
• Risk management advisory
• Insurance actuarial support

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Actuarial Consulting: Actuarial consulting services for pension schemes and insurers, including defined benefit consulting, risk management, and insurance actuarial support. Exceeded £50m in income for the first time in FY2024/25.
2. Pension Administration: Pension scheme administration services including DC pensions, group risk benefits, communications, and benefits consulting. Exceeded £57m in FY2024/25.
3. Risk Transfer Advisory: Bulk annuity and buy-in advisory services, including transaction advisory for pension schemes. Risk transfer team completed 30 transactions representing over 10% of all market deals in FY2024/25.
4. Investment Consulting: Investment consulting services including DB investment, DC investment, fiduciary management, and sustainable investment for pension schemes, insurers, charities, family offices and public sector.
5. Technology Services: Technology platforms and tools for pensions and insurance sectors including BW Risk Portal, DB technology, DC technology, risk management software, and online tools.
6. SIPP Services: Self-invested personal pension administration services through SIPPs Online platform.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Barnett Waddingham provides actuarial consulting, pension scheme administration, investment consulting, risk management advisory, and insurance actuarial services to UK corporates, public sector bodies, insurers, charities, family offices and high-net-worth individuals. The firm complements its professional services with a portfolio of proprietary technology platforms for risk, DB and DC pension scheme management, governance, capital modelling under Solvency II, carbon reporting and benefits administration.

Product overview

Barnett Waddingham offers a unified professional services platform spanning risk, pensions, investment, and insurance consulting, augmented by a portfolio of proprietary technology tools. The core risk management offering centers on CELESTIA RISK software and the BW Risk Portal, supplemented by BoardClic for governance assessments, CARAT for carbon emissions reporting, and Swarm AI for real-time decision analytics. The pensions technology stack includes Illuminate (DB schemes), GEM (DC schemes), BW CORE (governance), Insight (trustee analytics), Data Navigator (schools), Enlighten (LGPS training), and DataSure (data preparation), alongside the online platforms SIPPs Online and Clarity from BW. Insurance technology products comprise validateR (capital modelling), SIIMPLIFY (SCR calculator), and KIDs for PRIIPs. Recent additions include the AI Adoption Toolkit for Lloyd's market governance. The portfolio integrates with the 4me benefits platform, serving both private and public sector clients.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Actuarial Consulting Actuarial consulting for DB and DC pension schemes and insurers, including valuations, funding reviews, scheme de-risking strategy and insurance actuarial support. Exceeded £50m in income in FY2024/25.
• Pension Scheme Administration Full pension administration services for DB and DC schemes, including member communications, benefits processing and ongoing scheme management. Exceeded £57m in FY2024/25.
• Investment Consulting Investment advisory across DB, DC, charities, family offices, insurers and public sector, covering fiduciary management oversight, sustainable investment and streamlined DB investment.
• Risk Transfer Advisory Bulk annuity and buy-in/buyout advisory services including transaction execution. Risk transfer team completed 30 transactions representing over 10% of UK market deals in FY2024/25.
• Insurance Actuarial Consulting Actuarial support for life insurers, bulk annuity providers and reinsurers, including reserving, longevity risk management and Solvency II compliance advisory.
• Risk Management and Governance Advisory Risk advisory and analytics, data and decision-making, governance and secretariat services for corporates, public sector and insurers, supported by the BW Risk Portal and BoardClic tools.
• Employee Benefits and Wellbeing Consulting Group risk benefits, private medical insurance, wellbeing programmes and benefits strategy for employers, delivered with the 4me benefits platform.
• Public Sector (LGPS) Consulting LGPS consulting, investment advisory and training for local government pension funds, supported by the Enlighten LGPS training hub.
• SIPP Administration Self-invested personal pension administration services for high-net-worth individuals, delivered through the SIPPs Online platform.
• BW Risk Portal Online risk management content portal providing access to over 1,000 hours of risk management content, guidance and training covering more than 20 risk management topics.
• CELESTIA RISK Enterprise risk management software platform for comprehensive risk management and governance.
• Illuminate DB pension scheme technology platform for defined benefit scheme management and administration.
• GEM DC pensions and workforce data platform providing visual defined contribution insights for better outcomes (trademarked).
• DB Navigator DB endgame planning tool helping trustees, employers and advisors buy into a cohesive endgame vision.
• validateR Capital modelling and internal model validation tool for insurers.
• SIIMPLIFY SCR calculator for Solvency II compliance, simplifying solvency capital requirement calculations for insurers.
• KIDs for PRIIPs Tool for generating Key Information Documents for Packaged Retail Investment and Insurance-based Investment Products.
• SIPPs Online Online platform for self-invested personal pension administration and management.
• 4me Benefits platform for managing employee benefits and wellbeing programmes.
• AI Adoption Toolkit Governance toolkit providing principles-based guidance on AI adoption across five core areas: governance, risk tiering, data protection, security and intellectual property, and training. Co-developed with Lloyd's Market Association for MGAs.
• Howden Insurance Actuarial & Longevity (Howden IAL) Outsourced actuarial and longevity consulting practice for insurers, combining Barnett Waddingham's actuarial services with Hymans Robertson's strategic consulting expertise following acquisition of the Hymans Robertson IFS team.

Quantifiable outcome

• Revenue increased 12.8% to £181m for FY2024/25
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature17 records

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Aon: Global professional services firm offering retirement, health and risk consulting including UK actuarial and risk transfer services that overlap with Barnett Waddingham's core offerings.
• Willis Towers Watson (WTW): Global advisory, broking and solutions firm with major UK pensions, actuarial and risk consulting practices serving FTSE clients — competes with BW across actuarial, risk transfer and investment consulting at the larger end of the market.
• PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC): Big Four professional services firm with a UK pensions, actuarial and risk consulting practice serving FTSE corporates and insurers — competing with BW at the larger end and on cross-discipline mandates.
• Mercer (Marsh McLennan): Global consulting leader in health, wealth and career, with a strong UK actuarial and pension consulting franchise competing for the same FTSE corporate and trustee clients as Barnett Waddingham.
• JLT Employee Benefits (now Marsh): Major UK employee benefits and pensions consulting business now part of Marsh McLennan, competing directly with BW's employee benefits, risk and group risk practice for UK corporates.

Direct peers

• XPS Pensions Group: AIM-listed UK pensions consulting and administration firm offering actuarial, advisory, administration and investment consulting services directly competitive with Barnett Waddingham's pension offering.
• Lane Clark & Peacock (LCP): UK actuarial, pensions and investment consulting firm directly competing with Barnett Waddingham across pension scheme advisory, risk transfer, insurance and investment consulting for corporates, trustees and public sector clients.
• Hymans Robertson: Leading UK actuarial and pension consulting firm, fellow private partnership serving DB/DC schemes, insurers and public sector with comparable advisory, administration and investment consulting capabilities.
• Punter Southall Group: UK actuarial, pensions, investment and employee benefits consulting group with comparable DB and DC scheme advisory and administration services targeting UK corporates and trustees.
• Isio: UK pensions and insurance advisory firm formed from the KPMG pensions practice, providing actuarial, investment and risk consulting to DB, DC and insurance clients — a fast-growing direct competitor in BW's core markets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/BarnettWaddingham
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/barnett-waddingham-llp
• Instagraminstagram.com/barnett_waddingham
• Xx.com/bw_llp
• Facebookfacebook.com/barnettwaddingham

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Barnett Waddingham