Pension funds really can fulfill their objectives without taking a roller coaster ride. Cardano's multi-award winning approach to pension fund management focuses on delivering predictable improvements and stable results.

Planned and controlled performance

Today's pensions industry must face up to a troubling reality: a huge number of funds are struggling to meet their funding goals without huge injections of money. And this is happening at a time when the demands on sponsors' businesses have never been so great. The natural tendency is to take more risk now in the hope that things will be back on track when the upturn comes. But if this doesn't happen, your fund could very quickly become derailed. Things could get worse - potentially much worse. There is a clear need for change in how pension funds are managed, yet most still continue with the old ways despite growing evidence of the need for a different approach. Cardano offers that different approach and we do it with tried and tested tools that investors have used for years. We call it 'The Cardano Way'. Simply put, it means concentrating on achieving predictable results and never allowing a pension scheme to reach a position from which it cannot recover. Over time, we believe this is the best way to help schemes meet their objectives in a steady, timely fashion.

The Cardano way in practice

This chart shows the performance of clients who followed our fiduciary management approach relative to the average pension scheme.* The figures are net of all Cardano's and other underlying manager's fees. This performace is unique in the industry and is based on our philosophy of planned and controlled growth.

Source: Cardano

Performance shown is for our clients following our fiduciary management approach with a full liability benchmark. * Average pension scheme performance is estimated based on information contained in the Purple Book published by The Pensions Regulator and the Pensions Protection Fund Cardano only provides investment management to professional clients. Investments can go down as well as up and there is no guarantee of future performance.

The following are four principles we follow. By applying them consistently, we can help funds meet the needs of beneficiaries, trustees and sponsors.

  1. Avoid unaffordable risks

    2. Too many pension funds overemphasis return, without considering whether they could actually recover from a severe and unexpected shock.

  2. Ensure predictability and control of assets relative to the liabilities

    3. Steady, incremental growth in the funding ratio produces outstanding results over time.

  3. Avoid large deficits

    4. These make it impossible for the assets of a maturing pension fund to produce high returns and stable growth.

  4. Always plan for the unexpected

    5. Portfolios must be built to withstand different economic circumstances. That way they can achieve what is required, whatever the future holds.

The result is planned and controlled performance, reduced uncertainty and protection against catastrophic loss.

As much or as little involvement as you prefer

We structure out service to meet your needs, governance structure and appetite for day-to-day involvement. You choose how you want to work with us, which might be anywhere along the spectrum from advisory at one end to full fudiciary management at the other.

Cardano's approach and team made them the obvious choice as our fudiciary manager. It was clear that the traditional advisory approach wasn't working and it was taking us too long to decide and implement ideas. Our sponsor is also delighted with the decision we made.

Chair of the Investment Committee, £400m pension scheme

To find out how Cardano can help you meet your funding goals, contact Richard Dowell on 020 3170 592

Cardano is registered in England and Wales with branch no BR009499 and with its registered office at 5th Floor, 55 Gracechurch Street, London EC3V 0JP. Cardano Risk Management B.V. is authorised by Autoriteit Financiële Markten and subject to limited regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK. In the Netherlands, Cardano holds the following Chamber of Commerce registrations. Cardano Risk Management BV: KVK 24308915 © Cardano 2014.