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As consolidation offers multiply in the defined benefit market and superfunds wait for their first transactions, Punter Southall is proposing a revival of the multi-employer concept for smaller schemes, which could bring their sponsors savings of 80 per cent.

Stoneport, a consolidation vehicle for DB schemes in the UK with fewer than 1,000 members, was launched on Tuesday with the goal of targeting running cost, investment management and end-game efficiencies, as well as improving governance standards for these schemes.

In its initial phase, the consolidation vehicle will be set up as a DB master trust, taking on board the different schemes. Once scale is achieved — it aims for 100 pension funds by the end of 2022 — the “walls will collapse” and it will become a multi-employer scheme, explained Richard Jones, chief executive at Stoneport.

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