Crest Healthcare Admits Shirking Pension Requirements

Birmingham, England-based healthcare company Crest Healthcare and its managing director have pleaded guilty to misleading UK watchdog The Pensions Regulator (TPR) about providing employees with a workplace pension.

Appearing before Brighton Magistrates’ Court, Crest Healthcare and Managing Director Sheila Aluko each pleaded guilty to one charge of knowingly or recklessly providing false or misleading information to TPR, and two charges of willfully failing to comply with their automatic enrollment duties. Both charges carry a maximum penalty of an unlimited fine, and sentencing will take place on May 15.

“Sheila Aluko tried to conceal her company’s non-compliance by hiding behind false information and misleading her staff that their pensions were up and running,” said Darren Ryder, TPR’s director of automatic enrollment, in a release. “It was only after we intervened that the employer finally complied with its duties and provided its staff with the workplace pensions they were entitled to.”

According to TPR, in March of 2016, Aluko submitted a declaration of compliance to TPR claiming that Crest Healthcare had complied with its duties. She claimed staff had been written to about the pension plan, and said 25 employees had been enrolled into a workplace pension.

For more stories like this, sign up for the CIO Alert newsletter. 

However, TPR says Crest had not completed setting up a workplace pension, had not automatically enrolled any staff, and had also not written to its staff to tell them about automatic enrollment, as it was legally required to do. Additionally TPR says no pension contributions had been paid. Despite this, the company still deducted pension contributions from its workers’ wages, but kept them in the company’s bank account and did not pay them into a pension for more than eight months, said TPR.

The regulator said it was only made aware of the negligence “after a whistleblower raised the alarm,” and TPR executed a search warrant at Crest Healthcare’s offices and interviewed Aluko.

“While the majority of employers are doing the right thing, this case sends a clear message that it is unacceptable to dodge your pension responsibilities,” said Ryder, “and that we will take action against those who try to.”

Tags: Crest Healthcare, Pension, The Pensions Regulator, UK

Art by Chris Buzelli

In addition to electing a new board of directors, the Council of Institutional Investors (CII) has named Florida State Board of Administration (SBA) Executive Director and CIO Ashbel “Ash” Williams as board chairman.

Williams, who has been with the $195.9 billion SBA since the late 2000s, was elected chair by the CII’s public fund members, as per association bylaws.

Board officers were also elected by CII, including co-chairs Mary Francis, who is corporate secretary and chief governance officer for Chevron Corp., and John Keenan, corporate governance analyst for the AFSCME Employees Pension Plan. Scott Zdrazil, senior investment officer—corporate governance, for the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association, is the treasurer. Cambria Allen, corporate governance director, UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust, was named secretary.

Francis and Zdrazil join Jerry Albright, CIO, Teacher Retirement System of Texas; Ron Baker, interim executive director, Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association; Renaye Manley, deputy director, strategic initiatives department, Service Employees International Union (SEIU); Thomas McIntyre, international representative, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers; Hope Mehlman, chief governance officer and assistant corporate secretary, Regions Financial; and Jennifer Peet, corporate governance director, Office of the Oregon Treasurer and Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund, as new members of the CII board.

Want the latest institutional investment industry news and insights? Sign up for CIO newsletters. 

Existing board members Mary Collins, trustee, District of Columbia Retirement Board; Michael Garland, assistant comptroller, corporate governance and responsible investment, New York City Pension Funds; Aeisha Mastagni, portfolio manager, California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS); and TerriJo Saarela, corporate governance director, State of Wisconsin Investment Board, have been elected as CII directors for the 2018-19 interim.

Last December, Williams was the honoree of CIO’s Industry Innovation Awards, where he received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

“If the team, culture, processes, and resources are right, the probability of investment outcomes that earn trust, enhance reputation, and build brand value is vastly enhanced,” he told CIO in December.

Williams could not be reached for comment.

Tags: Ash Williams, Council of Institutional Investors