Hymans Robertson has acquired Bath Actuarial Consulting (BAC) in a bid to boost its corporate consulting business.
BAC was founded by Leonard Bowman and Andrew Udale-Smith in 2012. Both Bowman and Udale-Smith will be joining Hymans Robertson as partners, based in the firm's London office, following the acquisition.
Bowman and Udale-Smith previously worked at Willis Towers Watson, where they held senior scheme actuary as well as management roles, for a combined period of more than 35 years. At BAC, they grew a corporate consulting business from scratch, with clients whose defined benefit (DB) liabilities range in size from £200m to over £20bn. They also developed governance and technology services, which are used by trustees and defined contribution (DC) governance committees of some of the largest UK pension arrangements.
Commenting on the acquisition Hymans Robertson senior partner John Dickson said: "We're very excited to be acquiring this outstanding boutique consultancy and introducing Andrew and Leonard to our partnership.
"They bring proven skills in growing and developing corporate relationships that will complement our existing expertise as we continue to build our corporate advisory business in both DB and DC markets. The breadth of our services and, in particular, our strength in implementing complex projects, means that together we'll be able to provide their existing clients with a stronger, more comprehensive service. We look forward to them playing an active role in the future of our firm."
Udale-Smith added: "We are thrilled to become part of Hymans Robertson in its centenary year. BAC has a much shorter history and a much smaller team, but our shared values - of independence and putting clients first - mean there is a very natural fit.
"At BAC we have built strong, trusted adviser relationships with some significant corporate clients and we look forward to working with the Hymans Robertson team to develop and grow our joint corporate consulting offering. We are excited to be working in a firm with such a strong track-record in de-risking and settlement transactions."
