MRH Trowe & Lurse, the subsidiary of broker and consultancy MRH Trowe Holding, has acquired the actuarial consulting specialist Heubeck to become an alternative to US and UK consultancies for second-pillar occupational pension funds and first-pillar pension funds for professionals (Versorgungswerke) in Germany.
MRH Trowe & Lurse, which resulted from the merger of MRH Trowe and Lurse in 2023, has acquired all shares of Heubeck from the founding family, S‑Pensions Management, the occupational pension asset management company for savings bank Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, and the asset management company of municipal and church pension schemes VKVG, it said.
Strategically speaking, the takeover will combine Heubeck’s actuarial expertise with Lurse’s know-how in consultancy and administration of company pension schemes, Matthias Edelmann, member of the board of directors of MRH Trowe Holding and managing partner of the holding’s subsidiary MRH Trowe & Lurse, told IPE.
Heubeck employs more than 70 actuaries to offer consulting services to pension funds and to support the administration of pension promises.
Edelmann, who was a member of the team responsible for the takeover, added that MRH Trowe & Lurse aims to gain market share in the future through a comprehensive offering for second-pillar occupational pension schemes and first-pillar pension funds for professionals.
“The idea is to expand the offering for the clients in all areas of occupational pensions and continue to improve technology and services,” he added.
MRH Trowe & Lurse, with Heubeck, will aim to play a role internationally in administration, international consultancy and global actuarial services for German companies with subsidiaries worldwide.
Following the acquisition, the new company will focus geographically on Germany and Europe, to become an alternative to US consultancies such as WTW, Aon and Mercer, the largest active in Germany, Edelmann said.
“The challenge [to compete with other consultancies] is to take on new staff, and to keep them on board, during a process that entails changes, to build a new organisation that brings added value for the clients and for employees. The market is ready for a new big player,” he added.
Occupational pension schemes and Versorgungswerke tend to look for reliable consultancies that offer high-quality services in the long term.
“Our competitors try to roll out US or UK models that don’t work [well] in the German market, or rather the German market has no influence on how these products are designed,” Edelmann said.
MRH Trowe & Lurse has also developed the digital platform P LIVE to enable companies, insurers, and investment funds to manage the administration of company pensions, and to meet a growing demand for digital portfolio management. Heubeck also has its own actuarial platform.
It will further develop the platforms with AI and using European cloud providers, with data kept in Europe, an important point as now Europe and US are “parting ways”, Edelmann said.
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