News
Merger of the Allergan Scheme with the Fund
We would like to welcome our new members from the Allergan Scheme which merged with the Fund following the Trustees’ consideration and approval of a request from the company (“AbbVie”) to merge the two schemes in order to generate management efficiencies.
As part of the merger, the Fund will now pay all the benefits payable to former members of the Allergan Scheme. To do this all the assets of the Allergan Scheme have been transferred into the Fund. If you were previously a member of this scheme, please be assured that there will be no changes to your benefits as a result of the merger. If you are a pensioner member, your pension will continue to be paid as usual, at the same level and under the same terms as it was under the Allergan Scheme.
Whilst the Allergan Scheme had a slightly lower funding level than the Fund pre-merger, the Trustee is comfortable that member security will be maintained as the Fund will benefit from enhanced support from AbbVie, including additional contributions that will continue to be paid into the Fund.
Following the merger, which took place on 28 February 2025, the Allergan Scheme will be formally wound up.
You don't need to take any action, but if you are a former member of the Allergan Scheme and have any questions, please contact Broadstone (the administrators of the Allergan Scheme) at abbvie@broadstone.co.uk.
In due course, as a result of the merger, we took the opportunity to revisit all our service providers, and as a result, we are transitioning our administration services from Aptia to Broadstone (the administration providers for the Allergan Scheme).
This transition will take approximately 6 months and should be completed by the end of 2025. In due course, we will write to all members currently administered by Aptia, but note no updates are required for the former Allergan Scheme members as your administration provider remains unchanged.
Where you can get help and/or further information
AbbVie members
If you have a question on your benefits, please look at OneView first. If you need more help with your pension, you can contact the administration team at:
Website: Contact Aptia Pensions (CAP) pensionuk.aptia-group.com
Telephone: 0344 854 4966
Address: Maclaren House, Talbot Road, Stretford, Manchester M32 0FP
Former “Allergan Scheme” members
Your administrator is still Broadstone, and you can contact them as follows:
Email: abbvie@broadstone.co.uk (please note the new email address)
Telephone: 0117 937 8700
Address: Broadstone House, 23-25 St George’s Road, Bristol, BS1 5UU
Please note that when contacting your Scheme Administrator, you will need to provide your Name, Date of Birth and National Insurance Number.
Data protection
Your data is extremely important, and the Trustees are committed to protecting your data and privacy. The Fund’s Privacy Notice can be found on OneView too. It outlines the data we store about Members to administer the Fund, as well as how we use this data.
The Privacy Notice for the Allergan section is available via https://engage-members.broadstone.co.uk/ClientPage?Client=ALG
Who runs the Fund
The Trustee Board is currently made up of six Trustee Directors, including the Chair, BESTrustees Ltd, represented by Christopher Wheeler.
There are four Company-Nominated Trustee Directors (Nicola Balfe, Niall Maher, Christopher Wheeler and Mark Fisher) and two Member-Nominated Trustee Directors (Marc Church and Nick Kennedy).
Christopher Wheeler and Nicola Balfe were also trustees of the Allergan Scheme. In the interests of transparency and consistency, following the merger with the Fund, Gordon Jones, who was formally a member nominated trustee director of the Allergan scheme, has taken a trustee director role in the Fund as of the 28th February 2025.
Once the transitional period has passed, it is the board’s intention to revisit the board composition, and where appropriate begin a new process to identify new member nominated trustee directors in accordance with the scheme rules.
Following the merger, Gordon Jones and Nicola Balfe stood down as trustees of the Allergan Scheme, and Christopher Wheeler will continue as sole professional trustee until the scheme is wound up.
Trustee Secretary: Chris Hughes, Broadstone, 100 Wood Street, London, EC2V 7AN
Principal Employer: AbbVie Ltd, AbbVie House, Vanwall Business Park, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 4UB
Administrator for AbbVie members: Aptia UK Limited
Administrator for Allergan members: Broadstone Corporate Benefits Limited
Actuary: Richard Francis, Mercer, Tower Place West, London, EC3R 5BU
Auditor: Ernst &Young LLP, Apex Plaza, Reading, Berkshire RG1 1YE
Bankers: HSBC
Legal Adviser: Sackers
Investment Adviser: Aon, Verulam Point, Station Way, St Albans, AL1 5HE
Covenant Adviser: Cardano, 6 Bevis Marks, London, EC3A 7BA