Role of the Trustee Board

The role of the Trustee Board is to ensure that all beneficiaries receive the benefits to which they are entitled by administering the scheme in line with the Trust Deed and Regulations and the law. The Trustee must always act impartially in a manner it believes to be fair and equitable having regard to the different classes of beneficiaries.

The duties of the Trustee are summarised below:

• To act in accordance with the Trust Deed and Regulations and the law.
• To act prudently, conscientiously and honestly.
• To act in the best interest of the beneficiaries and to strike a fair balance between the interests of different classes of beneficiaries. This includes active members, deferred members, pensioners, dependants of deceased members and the Employing Companies (who may receive any residual surplus if the SCPF is wound up).
• To take appropriate advice on matters where expert help is required.

The role of the Trustee of the SCPF in carrying out its duties includes:

• Paying all benefits to beneficiaries according to the SCPF Trust Deed and Regulations.
• To invest SCPF assets and contributions.
• To pay pension increases up to the annual movement of the Retail Prices Index (RPI), or up to 7% (5% for members of the 2009 section) if this is less than the RPI movement (different pension increases apply to Enterprise and Moplefan section members).
• The power to set up and monitor the Additional Voluntary Contribution (AVC) Arrangements.
• The discretion to pay lump sums on death in certain circumstances.
• The power to make amendments to the Trust Deed and Regulations with the approval of a majority of the Employing Companies and subject to certain constraints.
• The power to delegate duties, powers and discretions.

The Trustee does not have the power to:

• Pay benefit improvements, unless requested by an Employing Company.
• Pay pension increases beyond the terms set out in the Trust Deed and Regulations, unless requested by the Founding Companies.

In practice, the Trustee delegates the day-to-day running of the SCPF to the Trustee Service Unit in Shell International Limited and the investment activities to Shell Asset Management Company B.V. The Trustee is also required to appoint other professional advisers to help manage the SCPF; these include a Scheme Actuary, investment adviser and legal adviser.

You can read more about the role of a Trustee Director in “Introduction to Trusteeship”

Trustee Committees

The two main Committees of the Board are the Investment and Funding Committee and the Risk and Operations Committee. Under their terms of reference, these Committees have delegated authority over certain decisions or act in a monitoring or advisory capacity. Each Trustee Director is a member of at least one Committee. These Committees also meet at least four times each year.