Pension Fund Service

What Pension Fund Service does

Pension Fund Service (PFS) is a privately held, UK-based professional services and networking organization headquartered at 7A Jordangate, Macclesfield, Cheshire, with five disclosed employees. The firm operates a curated network platform that connects major global pension schemes with financial institutions, providing education, debate forums and solutions on issues including de-risking, liability-driven investment (LDI), private markets, ESG/TNFD, local investing, pooling governance and FX execution cost reduction. Its core offerings are the UK Corporate DB Schemes Roundtable, the Local Authority Roundtable (covering LGPS pools such as LGPS Central, Wales Pension Partnership, London CIV, Brunel and Border to Coast), an FX Execution pooled programme targeting over 16 basis points of transaction cost, a Private Markets institutional distribution platform, and an Advisory Group chaired by the CEO and populated by senior figures from Hymans Robertson, Redington, Mercer, Northern Trust, Isio and Russell Investments.

The firm is led by founder-CEO Chris Southworth, who personally drives enterprise client engagement. Revenue is generated primarily through recurring membership and advisory fees, supplemented by event-based and transactional streams from FX pooling. The go-to-market is enterprise field sales targeting institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds, insurers and pension consultants, distributed via invite-only roundtables held in London and Edinburgh, a corporate website, direct email and the advisory group network. PFS is explicitly not a technology company; its competitive value is anchored in senior industry relationships, brand credibility and access to decision-makers rather than proprietary software or data infrastructure.

Name

Pension Fund Service

Legal name

Pension Fund Service

Website

https://pensionfundservice.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Pension Fund Service is a privately held UK-based networking and advisory firm that connects pension schemes and financial institutions through curated roundtable events, pooled FX execution, private markets distribution and a senior advisory group.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pension Fund Advisory & Networking Services

NAICS

Pension Funds (525110)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate & Public Pension Funds (DB/DC Sponsors) (FSAAAGAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Employer Retirement Plan Advisory (401(k)/Pension) (FSAEABAE), Taft-Hartley / Labor Union & Public Sector Retirement Systems (FSAAAGAK)

Keywords

• Pension fund networking
• Institutional distribution services
• FX execution pooling
• LGPS advisory roundtables
• Defined benefit governance

Headquarters

HQ city

Macclesfield

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership and Advisory Services: Pension Fund Service generates revenue through membership fees and advisory services, providing access to its network between major global pension schemes and financial institutions. The service offers education, debate forums, and solutions on current relevant issues in the pensions industry.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Pension Fund Service provides a networking and advisory platform that connects major global pension schemes with financial institutions. It convenes exclusive roundtable events for UK Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) pools and UK Corporate DB schemes, offers pooled FX execution services to reduce foreign exchange transaction costs for pension schemes, and delivers institutional distribution support for private markets investment. The company is supported by an Advisory Group of senior pension industry figures who chair roundtables and provide governance insight.

Product overview

Pension Fund Service (PFS) is a network platform connecting major global pension schemes with financial institutions. The company offers a unified portfolio of services including: the Private Markets Platform for institutional distribution, round table events (Local Authority Round Table for LGPS pools and UK Pension Fund Round Table for corporate DB schemes), FX Execution services for cost-effective foreign exchange, and an Advisory Group with senior industry professionals. These offerings are designed to provide education, debate forums, and solutions on pension fund issues such as diversification, de-risking, ESG, and local investing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Local Authority Round Table

Quantifiable outcome

• FX execution cost reduction potential through pooling arrangements
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Hymans RobertsoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHymans Robertson serves as a core strategic partner, providing Ben Farmer (Partner, Actuary and Senior Investment Consultant) as Advisory Group member and acting as Roundtable Chair for multiple events including De-risking and Levelling Up discussions. Key participant in UK Corporate DB Schemes and Local Authority roundtables.
• RedingtoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRedington provides Jill Davys (Head of LGPS) and Tricia Ward (Head of Private Markets) to the Advisory Group. Serves as Roundtable Chair for multiple events including De-risking 2023, TNFD, and Inflation Protection. Key consultant partner for PFS roundtables.
• MercercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMercer provides Tony English (Partner, Head of LGPS Investment) to Advisory Group. Serves as Roundtable Chair for Liquidity event (May 2024). Major consultant partner for both LGPS and Corporate DB roundtables.
• Northern TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNorthern Trust provides Ian Hamilton (Head of Asset Owners Europe, Asset Servicing) to Advisory Group. Provides asset servicing expertise and participates in roundtables on Liquidity and other topics.
• IsiocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIsio provides Steve Simkins (Partner, Public Services Leader) and Andrew Singh (Head of Public Sector Investment Advisory) to Advisory Group. Major consulting partner for LGPS events and housing with impact discussions.
• Russell InvestmentscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRussell Investments provides Julian Brown (Head of Consultant Relations) to Advisory Group. Key participant in UK Housing with Impact and Local Authority roundtables.
• Debbie FielderminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDebbie Fielder serves as Independent Advisor on Advisory Group, providing independent perspective on pension fund matters.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Citywire: Citywire runs a large portfolio of events, awards, and networking platforms across the UK institutional investment industry, including pension-focused audiences. Operates a similar events/networking GTM anchored in senior relationship access.
• IPE (Investment & Pensions Europe): IPE is the leading media, events, and information brand for European pension funds, hosting conferences and roundtables directly targeting the same institutional pension audience as PFS. Both monetize curated access and thought leadership for pension decision-makers.
• Pensions Age / AXCO Media: Pensions Age is a UK trade publication and events brand serving the occupational pension market. Like PFS, it monetizes pension-specific content and convening, making it a close format and audience peer.

Others

• Pensions UK (formerly NAPF): Pensions UK is the industry body for workplace pensions, running member events and policy forums. Comparable as a convening platform for institutional pension audiences, though structured as a membership association rather than a commercial network.
• Redington: Redington is a UK investment consultancy whose senior staff chair PFS roundtables. Operates adjacent to PFS as a content and advice provider to the same DB and LGPS clients; partnership overlap means it competes for the same client mindshare.
• Hymans Robertson: UK pension consultancy and PFS advisory partner that runs its own client events and research. Comparable as an ecosystem player targeting the same DB and LGPS institutional clients.
• Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF): LAPFF convenes LGPS funds around ESG, stewardship, and governance topics — directly overlapping with PFS's Local Authority Roundtable agenda. Acts as an adjacent convening body for the same client segment.

Broad incumbents

• Mercer UK (Investment Consulting): Mercer is a global consulting firm with a large UK DB/LGPS practice providing investment advisory and convening content. Overlaps with PFS in audience and topic agenda but at vastly larger scale.
• FT Live (Financial Times Events): FT Live operates a broad institutional events business spanning pension funds, asset managers, and corporate boards under the FT brand. Comparable in distribution/format but at materially larger scale and across wider topics.
• Willis Towers Watson (WTW) Pensions: WTW operates a major pension investment advisory and research practice in the UK serving DB and LGPS clients. Comparable at the audience level; broader in scale and product breadth than PFS.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights3 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pension-fund-service

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Pension Fund Service