The Loop | March 2021

Your quarterly insight to the pensions world from the team at The Pension Solutions Group and PSG SIPP

Choosing a SIPP Provider Why integrity and transparency matters

Inside this issue

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11

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In specie transfers And common issues that can arise

Helping students with home learning: How we supported a local school

What it takes to lead and not just manage

and much more...

March 2021

Spring is in the air and Easter is just around the corner.

Grab a cuppa, a hot cross bun and enjoy reading this 3rd edition of The Loop.

In this issue Feature and Insight Why we value integrity and transparency

Expert Q&A In specie transfers And common issues that can arise

Get to know Sharon Kiley of LiJack Consultancy

Charity update Helping students with home learning

Industry Insight What it takes to lead, not just manage

Feature and Insight 10 things I enjoy about working at PSG

Feature and Insight Supporting our next sporting heroes

Take a break

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PSG SIPP Limited Registered in England and Wales no. 07030395 Registered Office: The Coach House, Box House, Bath Road, Box, Corsham, Wiltshire, SN13 8AA is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (register number 514654). | The Pension Solutions Group Limited Registered in England and Wales no.

06683561 Registered Office: The Coach House, Box House, Bath Road, Box, Corsham, Wiltshire, SN13 8AA. | The PSG Trust Company Limited Registered in England and Wales no. 06289058 The Coach House, Box House, Bath Road, Box, Corsham, Wiltshire, SN13 8AA.

Welcome to the third edition of our magazine.

We’re really enjoying putting it together and we hope you’re enjoying reading it.

One of the things that I like best about this process is the opportunity to introduce you to members of our team. We feel an equal mix of luck at having such great people working for PSGS and TPSG and validation for our resolve to have, and maintain, our approach of great customer service through an employee centric culture.

There’s pressure from all directions to conform to the ‘cookie cutter’ approach to running a business in this sector. When I consider these pressures, I’m always reminded of the Project Management Triangle (good, fast, cheap – pick two). Doubtless you’re familiar with it in one guise or another, but it bears another share.

It is through our values and the team that delivers on them, that we will get as close as anyone can to the sweet spot in the middle. If this edition has an over arching theme, it’s probably integrity and we’ll continue to trust that there’s enough of you out there who place a value on integrity.

Assuming that’s the case, we’ll carry on being us and not try to be something we are not.

Mike Baker Communications Director, TPSG & PSG SIPP Limited

It is through our values and the team that delivers on them, that we will get as close as anyone can to the sweet spot in the middle.

Enjoy this edition, I’d really love to know what you think of it.

THE LOOP | MARCH 2021

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Feature and Insight

Why we value integrity and transparency

By Marcus Forsey Marketing and Communications Manager marcus@psgsipp.co.uk

In light of the new normal we’ve all had to adapt to over the past year, at the mercy of an ever-evolving pandemic that continues to rip up the rulebook on our way of life, it’s fair to say that having a keen eye on our money and financial plans couldn’t be any more important than it is right now.

That’s why, unsurprisingly, we’re hearing more often in the news about investors putting more time and attention on where their money is held and just how hard it is working for them to provide that security and stability we could all really do with.

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The SIPP industry is riding that wave of interest and buzz from those looking to get smarter with their money and plans for retirement, especially amongst millennials. During 2020, the number of SIPP investors between the ages of 25 and 34 – both men and women - increased by 200 per cent and 185 percent, respectively.

That’s a hell of a lot more interest, which is why it’s equally important each of those investors are thinking especially carefully about the value a smaller, growing provider such as PSG SIPP puts on integrity, transparency and excellent service, whilst resisting the urge to get carried away with clever marketing techniques and promises of low-cost fees that perhaps larger, more ambiguous providers appear to be offering.

Beware hidden fees Just like the appeal of a cheap flight ticket with a low budget airline (remember them?), it’s important to never get carried away with headline fees. This couldn’t be truer when considering the costs of establishing a SIPP with a new provider. On the surface these fees can look more attractive but when you drill down, things are usually not as they seem.

Sadly, many of these new investors, inspired by current events, will come to learn that our industry is full of providers who do not put as much value on integrity as we do. Some providers will often hide the true costs of administrating their SIPPs beneath reams of small print, or elsewhere.

SIPPS are complex in nature and reliant on a host of third parties to organise on behalf of clients. Any provider suggesting this isn’t the case is likely living on borrowed time with the regulator.

We’ve always prided ourselves on being fair and transparent when it comes to fees, which is why our Services and Fees document has been criticised for being quite a lengthy read. Putting advisers and clients at the heart of what we do, means we’ve already taken onboard this valuable feedback.

With a clever and fresh design approach we’ve recently worked to make our fees a little less exhausting on the eye. But what remains in place and always will is the fact that we are not afraid to give our clients a full and honest picture of what the true costs of a PSG SIPP are to them. We currently still offer a one page fee summary but are working to make this obsolete. But, caution should be exercised when viewing any provider’s fees that appear to be set out in full on one page. With regulation comes complex responsibilities and unfortunately, that means that sometimes you just have to make the time to engage with the detail.

Offering great service “Treat clients like you want to be treated yourself”, “put yourself in the client’s position”, “treat client investments as if they were your own”.

All phrases that are too often thrown about by companies operating in the financial services industry which invariably carry little substance behind them.

Like all other regulated firms, it is true that we have a duty of care to uphold for each of our clients. Beyond this we recognise that each of our clients have their own set of unique circumstances

and challenges. It is an appreciation of the importance of the matter to our client, the provision of easily understandable information and parting with our expertise and knowledge, that sets us apart.

It is not great service to compromise on integrity merely to win business. Of course, Financial Advisers and Clients alike want things to be as quick and painless as possible. So do we. But, products that are complex and tightly regulated can only be presented as simple to a limited degree and we believe that our desire to make sure that we are communicating everything clients and their advisers need to know, rather than just want to know, is what integrity and great service looks like.

“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters”.

Albert Einstein.

When we speak of integrity and transparency in all that we do, we often think of this quote. Existing and new investors put great trust in us to recognise them as more than just a number, to look after their money and to help them achieve their financial goals. They deserve to be rewarded with a provider who can be trusted on all these matters. A provider like us.

SIPPS are complex in nature and reliant on a host of third parties to organise on behalf of clients. Any provider suggesting this isn’t the case is likely living on borrowed time with the regulator.

THE LOOP | MARCH 2021

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Expert Q&A

Kate Tudor Senior SIPP Administrator kate@psgsipp.co.uk

In specie transfers can often throw up lots of challenges for us, the adviser, and the ceding scheme, resulting in unnecessary back and forth between all parties. We asked Kate Tudor, who handles in species transfers for PSG SIPP, to discuss what’s involved in managing these on behalf of our clients and what pitfalls we frequently encounter’.

In specie transfers And common issues that can arise

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What are the biggest challenges when trying to organise in specie transfers on behalf of a client?

A clear understanding from the outset of what the adviser and their client are trying to achieve can almost immediately raise some challenges.

Often, we’ll be provided with the ceding scheme discharge forms and our transfer in application form which indicates the transfer will be an in specie, however with no clear instruction on how they intend for this to be processed.

Requirements can vary greatly from those of the ceding schemes and investment providers. To help overcome this problem and fully understand what the adviser and their client hopes to achieve, we’ve developed a new in specie enquiry form which must be completed prior to submitting the business. Once we have received back a fully completed form, our first action will usually be to contact the adviser to discuss the case and ensure we have everything we need to proceed with organising the transfer on behalf of their client.

A lot of work goes into each and every in specie transfer before we are in a position to send the paperwork to the ceding provider for processing. This process always starts with an initial check to see if we can accept the funds. If the funds are not on our list of approved assets, we will then have to ask for further information from the adviser so we can complete our necessary due diligence.

Further issues can arise before we’re even ready to submit the transfer request. The ceding schemes will not always follow our instruction, and each have their own unique procedures and processes they will follow. For instance, rather than transfer the assets to a new bond, some ceding schemes will insist the bond is reassigned. This can result in lots of lengthy discussions to reach an agreement that fulfils the clients requirements, again adding more delays to the transfer process.

There are so many different scenarios and each case is very different and raises its own set of challenges, so it’s always hard to put a definitive process in place, let alone a definitive timescale.

Would you say these challenges have become more significant in recent times and if so, what’s changed?

All schemes work differently and with most organisations now working full time from home, everyone has had to adapt to a new way of working and agree what documents they will or will not accept by email.

We’ve recently come across challenges with our own Deed of Assignment which we originally created to help us agree responsibilities between us and the investment provider. In the beginning this was accepted by most investment providers, however a few will now not accept this document and require us to complete their own versions. Unfortunately, it is never a straightforward case of signing this and getting the transfer underway; we must check what has been written carefully with support from our CEO, Duncan Parsons, due to the legal obligations contained within each document.

We must also wait to be sent this document from the ceding scheme, which can take a couple of weeks or more to receive, even with frequent chasing.

This is also one of those documents that requires sight of wet signatures.

What is a typical deadline expected by a client or their adviser?

Advisers will often look at the timescales in the same manner as a cash transfer. It is important that advisers and clients understand that this is not the case. If further information is needed, this can cause delays and the adviser needs to manage the client’s expectations.

We do not chase these types of transfer weekly as this can raise red

flag indicators of potential pension liberation fraud with the investor, so we will go by the last information we submitted to the ceding provider. For instance, if the last document we sent to the ceding provider was a Deed of Assignment; we know that scheme will send it to their legal department for checking before forwarding to the investment provider. The investment provider will also have their own internal checks to carry out before they are ready to proceed.

When we know which ceding scheme provider is administering the transfer, we can manage the adviser’s expectations around completion.

What is a typical deadline delivered by a ceding provider?

Again, all providers are different. Some ceding providers are well known for being notoriously slow or impossible to get hold of. To that end they have no deadline. In addition, as there is more than one party involved in this type of transfer, we have to deal with outstanding requirements from each party.

In your considerable experience, what would you say are the most common mistakes that lead to unnecessary delays?

The lack of information or not having clear instructions from the outset are the greatest cause of unnecessary delays. We must also have a recent valuation dated within the last 3 months. This is essential to allow us to carry out our due diligence and check we can accept the funds, as no transfer can progress beyond this stage until we have all this information.

We hope our new enquiry form will make life easier for everyone and reduce or eliminate the need for us to spend time going back and forth with lots of queries to the adviser at this early stage in the process.

Download our new in specie enquiry form

THE LOOP | MARCH 2021

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Get to know: Sharon Kiley of LiJack Consultancy

lead Taking the

Sharon Kiley L&D Consultant, LiJack Consultancy Sharon@lijackconsultancy.co.uk

As a company enjoying sustainable growth at a time that so many are, at best, struggling, we recognise the importance of supporting our staff and helping to secure their future as part of ours. This is perhaps most true when it comes to our Management Team. A group of talented, hard-working and, just as crucial, fun and interesting people. That’s why we began a highly rewarding relationship with Lijack Consultancy, to better develop and inspire our leaders. In this article, Sharon Kiley from Lijack Consultancy explains how this works.

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Leadership development programs are crucial to the long-term success of every organisation. An effective leader will inspire, motivate and drive an organisation forward – but a bad leader can do the opposite.

Whether you believe leaders are born or made, (I for one believe they can be made!), investment in developing great leaders with the right attitudes and behaviours is vital for the future of your company.

Investing in leadership development– doesn’t involve just a colourful Power Point training session, but development that stimulates, is interactive, challenging and relatable directly back to the workplace where the real progress is made. It’s also ongoing and cannot end when the course does.

At Lijack Consultancy we draw on over 20 years’ experience of designing and delivering management development programmes and soft skills training and our ILM Approved Management Development programme are the benchmark for high-quality, bespoke in-house management and leadership training providing amazing results.

Who are the ILM? The Institute of Leadership & Management are much more than just a professional body. With an active community of over 40,000 leaders, managers and coaches, they create award-winning e-learning resources, and undertake practical research to support individuals and organisations in developing, and inspiring, great leadership everywhere.

Benefits of an ILM programme to your organisation The ILM’s flexible and cutting edge approach to leadership development delivers the highest quality, independent and interactive learning environment within a community that thrives upon the latest leadership thinking. Great leadership development enables you to…

Unlock potential

Push boundaries

Build and sustain agile businesses

Stand out from your competitors and colleagues

Attract and retain skilled, high performing people

Recently PSG provided an opportunity for 3 of it’s Managers to attend a bespoke ILM approved programme delivered by Lijack Consultancy. Over 9 months the managers covered 4 modules focusing on developing their skills in a range of areas which could be directly applied back to the workplace.

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Building self and leadership awareness

Improving performance

As a manager building self-awareness is vital and by using the Insights Discovery tool, PSG managers were able to understand how their psychological preferences impact their management effectiveness.

The function of a great leader is to create the environment for success. Everyone wants to be able to come to work and do a good job and during this module, PSG managers learnt about the building blocks of success for creating the environment for performance:

Every person has all four colour energies within them; it is the combination of these energies which creates each unique personality. Our colour energies refer to a set of characteristics that tend to be our most preferred or most natural way to be. Have you considered which colour type might be your preference?

Detailed

Direct

Considerate

Enthusiastic

Reserved

Decisive

Helpful

Adaptable

Analytical

Focused

Accommodating

Empowering

Disciplined

Proactive

Appreciative

Flexible

Diligent

Determined

Supportive

Encouraging

Thoughtful

Purposeful

Reliable

Interactive

Consistent

Courageous

Patient

Engaging

Objective

Confident

Valuing

Dynamic

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Leading and managing others “The difference between management and leadership is like the difference between sun and moon, night and day, hot and cold, coming and going, and so on. They are two sides of the same coin. While different and distinct, they are parts of the whole: essential contrasts, which make clearer the other.” (Adapted from a quote

by Eric Garner). PSG managers recognised what great leadership and management looks like and how they can adapt their style to inspire and motivate their team.

Setting Goals

Giving feedback on performance

Leveraging performance through motivation

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Building and developing a team Every Rolls Royce is a car, but not every car is a Rolls Royce. Similarly, not every team is a high-performing team and during this module managers learnt how to build and sustain effective team working, transitioning from a good team to a great team.

How do your teams measure up?

Find out on the next page with 10 characteristics you can use to measure your team performance.

THE LOOP | MARCH 2021

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Get to know: Sharon Kiley of LiJack Consultancy

10 characteristics of high-performing teams Most members of high-performing teams report that it’s fun and satisfying to work on collaborative teams because they are asked to contribute at their highest potential and they learn a lot along the way. Characteristics of high-performing teams include the following:

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People have solid and deep trust in each other and in the team’s purpose — they feel free to express feelings and ideas.

The team engages in extensive discussion, and everyone gets a chance to contribute — even the introverts.

The leadership of the team shifts from time to time, as appropriate, to drive results.

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Everybody is working toward the same goals.

Disagreement is viewed as a good thing and conflicts are managed.

Criticism is constructive and is orientated towards problem solving and removing obstacles.

03 Team members are clear on how to work together and how to accomplish tasks.

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The team makes decisions when there is natural agreement — in the cases where agreement is elusive, a decision is made by the team lead or executive sponsor, after which little second-guessing occurs.

Everyone understands both team and individual performance goals and knows what is expected.

05 Team members actively diffuse tension and friction in a relaxed and informal atmosphere.

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09 Each team member carries his or her own weight and respects the team processes and other members.

No individual members are more important than the team.

And the results are in As a result of their commitment and dedication to the programme, this group of PSG managers are now proud owners of an ILM certificate showing they’ve met the benchmark for approval and applying the learnings into the teams to inspire, lead and deliver amazing results.

Charity update

Helping students with home learning How we supported a local school We recently donated several desktop computers including monitors to Sheldon School in Chippenham.

The IT equipment, which is all in extremely good condition, was purchased by both companies over the course of several years of continuing growth and had become obsolete during the course of 2020 as a result of the pandemic, leading staff members to adopt laptops instead so that they could work from home more regularly.

Chief Operating Officer of both companies, Natalie Pike, said “due to regular lockdowns here in the UK, we moved all of our staff to home working and from using desktop to laptop computers, so we had some spare.

The desktop computers as well as monitors ended up just sitting on our IT Technician’s desk in the office doing nothing. One of our members of staff has a child at Sheldon School and had mentioned that some of the students struggled to work at home in lockdown as they didn’t have access to computers, so we thought this could be a brilliant opportunity to support children in our local community and pass these on to the School.

We really hope that these students will benefit from using them, particularly if schools in England are forced to close again in the event of further lockdowns”.

Sheldon School Headteacher, Neil Spurdell was delighted to accept the donation from the company and we were equally chuffed to help children at the school by supporting their education during a particularly challenging year for the country.

THE LOOP | MARCH 2021

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Industry Insight

What it takes to lead, not just manage

By Pearl Belcher Finance Manager pearl@psgsipp.co.uk

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I still find it weird to say that I have a team. Six months ago the accounts department was made up of only myself and Alecia and now we have recently welcomed Beth and Katie to the team and still actively recruiting to keep pace.

It’s important to talk All responsible employers have an interest in the mental wellbeing of their staff and this is certainly very high on my agenda. We try to all be open and actively talk about how we are feeling. This helps us to understand each other’s needs which in turn makes for a healthy, productive team.

Remembering to take regular breaks from the screen and going out for walks is also something I actively encourage everyone to do. Make the time and you’ll feel the benefits.

Oh and finally, logging off at 5pm and having some chocolate, I can’t overstate how much that helps!

Our accounts department has grown rapidly, and I’m really enjoying all the great things that come from being in a team with 3 fab women, who are doing such amazing jobs every day.

This expansion is about more than the ever-increasing numbers of clients whose pensions we look after. It’s also the story of my own development and the faith placed in me to take on additional responsibilities, such as our corporate finances.

I haven’t come from a managerial background, so the complexities of managing a team was new to me. Luckily, PSG have given all the managers great support throughout.

I know that whenever I face a new challenge, I have the full support of my manager, Nat, as well as the other managers at PSG. I definitely couldn’t do it without the support of the others.

PSG also made sure we benefited from industry recognised training with the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM). We learnt so much about ourselves and what we are

capable of over the course of a year expertly guided by L&D Consultant, Sharon Kiley from LiJack Consultancy.

Of course, our learning never stops but we recently completed this invaluable training and I was relieved to pass my Level 3 course. I just wish I could have celebrated becoming a certified associate with the ILM with my colleagues.

Alongside our Friday catch ups, we make sure we have a quick, more business orientated, call on a Monday to talk about any issues we might have during the week, for example if anyone is off and who can cover their work etc.

This helps us to remain connected and functioning as a team, rather than lonely, disparate home workers. I don’t think I would get through these winter lockdown months without my team Managing the team during a lockdown and I’m so excited for the future and hasn’t made the learning curve any less where their roles will go. steep. We recruited Beth and Katie during a time we weren’t able to visit Additionally, we recently completed the office. This meant we didn’t have PDP’s (Personal Development Plans). that initial day to day office talk that’s This is a fab way to see where each so crucial for relationship building and member of the team wants to focus team bonding. But, we make sure that their energy in the future, and if and every Friday we all down tools, make a how I can help them to get to where hot chocolate, and take 30 minutes out they want to go. Having been with of the day to put this right. We’ve learnt PSG for several years now, there’s lots about each other, and I feel that we much to feel satisfied by when I look have a team bond that is even stronger at how far we’ve come and where than it may have been if we were in the we’re going, but my favourite part of office! (I also learnt that chocolate is being a manager, is seeing everyone in the way forward with everyone). my team develop their own roles, and grow with the company.

“I didn’t think I would get through these winter lockdown months without my team and I’m so excited for the future and where their roles will go.”

THE LOOP | MARCH 2021

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Feature and Insight

By Abigail House Business Development Manager abigail@psgsipp.co.uk

It’s crazy to think it’s been 8 months already since I joined PSG SIPP as its new Business Development Manager. I recently took 10 minutes out of my busy schedule driving forward new business and dealing with adviser queries to reflect on what I’ve quickly grown to enjoy about our company’s refreshing approach to SIPP administration.

things I enjoy about working at PSG SIPP 14

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Friendly & approachable

Joining the team freshly back from maternity leave, especially during the pandemic was daunting. But it has been great to join such an amazing group of people. The welcome from the PSGS team was great and everyone made the time to help and introduce me to their work. Though I haven’t had the chance to meet the team in person yet, it’s been surprising and rewarding to see how quickly you can build relationships remotely. As a relationship manager, who is used to getting out and meeting people face to face, the change has been refreshing, and whilst I’m looking forward to getting back out there when we are able to, I can’t wait to develop more relationships, within and outside PSGS.

02 Customer focus Considering my working life so far has been spent primarily within Tier 1 banks, there was certainly a culture shock joining the PSGS team. One thing that resonated with me immediately was the focus on the customer at PSGS. Whilst my previous roles have all had the customer at its heart, PSGS really instil the customer as part of the culture, and this comes across in the service they provide day in day out.

03 Speed Speed isn’t everything, but PSGS are committed to making sure the service, including the SLAs that we work to are as tight as possible. When we’re dealing with people’s money and future, I think it helps to make sure that we are pushing ourselves to make it count for the customer, without letting the quality drop.

05 Growth of the team

09 Process

As a fast-growing business, PSGS have continually had to invest in its people. Since joining, our company has recruited 11 more people, and they are continuing to grow to meet our customers demands. As I have seen first-hand, PSGS really dedicate time and effort into onboarding and helping staff to develop themselves.

As we know, change is constant, and the last year has shown us how quickly this can happen. A lot of these changes are here to stay, and we know that the pace is going to continue to increase over the next few years. I want PSGS to rise to this challenge by understanding how the world is changing for our customers and introducers. Our processes are evolving and adapting in line with these demands, and we will ensure we communicate and keep the adviser network and clients informed during the journey.

06 Business growth The growth of the PSGS team is down to our continued new business and support we have received over the last few years. As the Business Development Manager, it comes with the territory, but growing PSGS is a key focus of mine as I work with the rest of the team to continue delivering great outcomes for our customer and adviser network.

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Communications

Like so many other businesses, PSGS relies on our communications with our customers and introducers. We need to ensure that when we communicate, we are fresh, clear and concise. It’s always my goal to make sure that we can deal with queries as efficiently as possible, Relationships and I know how much of a difference it can make to advisers dealing with Whilst I haven’t managed to get out customers if they can be sure that all and meet our introducers in the adviser of the information required is collected network in person yet, I’ve been in one go, and customers are refortunate to meet a huge number of assured that everything is in hand. people over the last 6 months, from all over the world. It’s been great hearing from so many different people about the challenges they face and it’s really rewarding for me when I’m able to help deliver what they need. I’m really keen to grow this network over the next year, and who knows, I may able to get out there and meet some of them in person sometime in 2021.

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08 Develop products

It’s great to receive feedback on our products and I’m always keen to ensure that we look for continuous improvement of our products and services. We have so many solutions Technical knowledge that can help customers reach their The breadth and depth of the pension goals and we’ll always be knowledge at PSGS is extensive. working hard in the background to Whether that is customer service, legal, ensure these continue to deliver for compliance, advisory, administration, or our growing customer needs. insurance. It really helps to know that when a complex case comes in, we have the expertise to deal with it, and as a relationship manager, it’s great to deliver those outcomes to our customers and adviser network.

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THE LOOP | MARCH 2021

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Feature and Insight

Supporting our next sporting heroes For most people, knowing you would rank 5th in the world at your chosen sport, might give you a bit of swag. If this world ranking was achieved at 14, one could be forgiven for being a touch arrogant.

Particularly if you’ve been talent spotted at the age of 8, had the opportunity to meet and compete with your sporting heroes and if you’d broken 3 world records. Superiority abounds! Except, that is, if you are Lauren Booth.

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What’s astonishing about Lauren is not how she’s overcome bacterial meningitis in her infancy, battled with cerebral palsy, hearing and mobility challenges to become a world class athlete, it’s how sincerely modest and considered she is with it all.

Being given a specially modified trike by the Meningitis Trust at 4 to ease the toddler’s increasing frustration at her lack of independence, whet Lauren’s appetite for wheels. She was soon determined she would ride her older brother’s bike. When she firmly rejected the condition that she’d need stabilizers, Lauren’s mother, Lisajayne played the ‘learn by your own mistakes’ parenting card and let Lauren get on the 2 wheeler, fully expecting to have to apply plasters and ‘I told you so’ shortly thereafter.

She didn’t. To Lisajayne’s astonished joy, Lauren aced the bike from the off and was soon an enthusiastic member of the Chippenham Wheelers cycle club.

In 2013, Lauren broke her first World Record for the Flying 200; impressive at any age, but she was only 12 at the time.

Lauren started going to the Castle Combe summer series and there, aged 8 she was spotted by a talent scout and invited to attend Saturday training sessions at the Newport Velodrome with Disability Sport Wales. 18 months in to this new-found passion for vertiginous speed, management at the velodrome changed the rules, disallowing anyone under the age of 10 from using the velodrome. Thrown into health and safety purgatory, Lauren had to wait a frustrating 6 months for double digits to get back on the track. By happy chance, her birthday that year fell on a Saturday and there was no question about where she would be blowing out her candles that year.

In 2013, Lauren broke her first World Record for the Flying 200; impressive at any age but considering she was 12 at the time, it was a double edged sword as her age precluded formal recognition of the achievement. It did, at least, lead to a sponsorship offer from Planet X who provided her with both a road and training bike. She’s smashed the record for her favourite

event since then, and, through her love of the sport as much as anything, all other barriers she set her sights on.

We were almost as excited about the prospect of Lauren competing at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2020 as she was, but 2017 proved a difficult year for Lauren when the UCI (Cycling’s international governing body) decided that her disabilities were not deemed severe enough for paracycling classification. This meant that her Paralympic dream was suddenly in the broom wagon. I for one can’t really imagine how devastating that must have been, nor how hard it must have been to keep training and refocus. But that’s exactly what Lauren did and she decided to look for alternative challenges.

Lauren found just the thing when she discovered Virtus, world intellectual impairment sport (formally INAS) and so immediately applied for classification.

After testing and the inevitable long wait, she received confirmation that she was eligible to compete in their cycling competitions. It was back on!

Few things have ever run as smoothly as a well fettled track bike for Lauren though and she had just missed the selection cut off for the European Games in Paris that year. Still undeterred, Lauren looked to the future and set her sights on selection for the Global Games in Brisbane Australia in October 2019.

The Global games are an Olympic equivalent for intellectually impaired athletes and in July 2019 Lauren received confirmation that she was finally going to represent Great Britain on the international stage. These athletes don’t receive any funding though so Lauren, never one to wait for the world to come to her, set about raising the money she needed to pay for her entry fees, travel and accommodation costs which included transportation of 3 bikes, spare wheels and equipment!

Con tin u

ed

THE LOOP | MARCH 2021

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Feature and Insight

The Global Games was a massive success and the moment that Lauren really got to show what she’s made of.

Lauren’s typically modest hopes, when setting out for the airport, were to stand on the podium. Never in her wildest dreams did she expect to be standing on the top step 6 times! Her incredible gold rush also displayed her range of abilities coming in a road race, individual and team time trials and three events in the velodrome. Lauren came home from Australia with six gold medals as well as being crowned World Champion six times.

So how did she plan to follow that?

European games were planned for July 2020 in Portugal. Everything was booked and then, well, we all know what then. The pandemic also halted Lauren’s much-loved training at Newport velodrome three times a week so Lauren resorted to lockdown training indoors on the turbo trainer.

As things eventually eased Lauren was straight out on her home roads of Wiltshire clocking up hundreds of miles a week just to stay focused and fit.

While 2021 looks to be another year for athletes to write off, there’s the prospect of the Virtus 2022 European Games in Krakow Poland and the 2023 Global games in Vichy France.

These are already marked in Lauren’s calendar and with the European games being Lauren’s first opportunity to defend her titles as well as aim for European champion to add to her title of World Champion.

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Enjoying the ride TPSG have been involved with Lauren’s journey since 2013 when we started sponsoring her through the Funding Future Olympians and Paralympians initiative. We’ve been blown away by this young sportswoman whose talent is matched by her dedication and we are thrilled to play some small part in supporting her achievements and her ambitions.

Take a break

Easter is nearly upon us and what better way to enjoy scoffing those easter eggs and hot cross buns, by also taking 5 minutes to enjoy our regular page of brainteasers? Don’t miss the usual chance to win a coveted PSG mug, tea caddie and pen!

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please R I IFor I more E K information H L U O O S K T refer to our Policy and Guide to A E N K N U I H A N D O E U understand what we are able to E T S D B O N N E T N R L L do and what everyone’s roles are.

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Wordsearch

Across 3 _____ Easter!

4 Woven container used to collect eggs 5 Baby sheep 7 The season after winter 8 Beautiful plants that grow in the spring

TULIPS BASKET DUCKS BONNET BUNNY CHICKS SPRING DAFFODIL EASTER CHOCOLATE

Down 1 Small, colourful, chewy egg-shaped sweets 2 Baby chicken 6 Round object that can be dyed and hard-boiled

Join the egg hunt Tell us how many Easter eggs you can find in this picture to be in with the chance of winning* a TPSG goody bag containing a mug, tea caddie and pen!

Enter here

Prize draw terms and conditions. The promoter is The Pension Solutions Group Limited (company no. 06683561)] whose registered office is at The Coach House, Box House, Bath Road, Box, Corsham, Wiltshire, SN13 8AA. The prize draw is open to residents of the United Kingdom aged 18 years or over except employees of The Pension Solutions Group and PSG SIPP Limited, their close relatives and anyone otherwise connected with the organisation or judging of the competition. There is no entry fee and no purchase necessary to enter this competition. By entering this competition, an entrant is indicating his/her agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions. Route to entry for the competition, full terms and conditions and details of how to enter are available via www.tpsg.co.uk/win-a-goody-bag The competition will also be promoted on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. Only one entry will be accepted per person. Multiple entries from the same person will be disqualified. Closing date for entry will be 30/04/2021. After this date then no further entries to the competition will be permitted. No responsibility can be accepted for entries not received for whatever reason.

THE LOOP | MARCH 2021

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Pensions that put a spring in your step On the playing field swamped by target-driven, volume-led mega-firms, we’re a team which is known for our energy and inventiveness. Set up in 2007, TPSG offers you an alternative to the thoughtless anonymity typical of the High street names.

Advisers who come to us recognise that there must be a better way, and we’re determined to provide that with our diligent, problem-solving approach.

We don’t force square pegs into round holes. If our far from standard SSAS can’t meet the objectives of your client then we’ll work with you to find the best solution to even the trickiest of scenarios, using our insight and experience to bring attention to potential complications.

“I have found Steve and the team very professional, reactive and helpful in any dealings or queries which we have had.”

“I’ve had a very good experience with TPSG. They have been immensely flexible and efficient when providing solutions for my personal needs. I hope they continue the great service”