It's more glory, glory for Manchester United as well as England's governing soccer body, the Football Association. But the latest accolades aren't the result of action on the pitch.
Instead, the club and the FA received the Pension Quality Mark PLUS Standard, the top ranking for U.K. defined contribution plans on the basis of their contribution levels, and governance and participant education policies. PQM was established by the U.K.'s National Association of Pension Funds to recognize high-quality British DC plans, which apply for the PLUS Standard designation.
Man U is the first football club to receive the standard. It sponsors a £578 million ($897 million) group pension plan. The FA, London, has a DC plan; the asset size of the plan could not be learned by press time.
“The club and the sporting body are demonstrating leadership and success both on and off the pitch,” Chris Hitchen, PQM chairman, said in a statement on PQM's website.
Philip Townsend, director of communications at Manchester United, said in a statement also on the website: “Trustees felt it was very important that our staff could have confidence in their scheme in order to achieve our key objective of increasing member engagement.”
Added Andrew Crean, group CFO at The FA: “Having the Pension Quality Mark enables us to offer reassurance to our staff that the pension benefit that we provide is of high value.”
