Barnett Waddingham is a leading UK professional services consultancy at the forefront of risk, pensions, investment and insurance. With more than 1,700 dedicated people across eleven offices, we have built a business that is resilient, independently minded and consistently focused on delivering long-term value. Because we are free from external stakeholders, we are able to take a genuinely long-term view with every client, bringing fresh ideas to the table unobstructed. That independence is not just a structural fact — it is the foundation of the trust our clients place in us. We are a trusted partner for organisations across both the private and public sectors, including 24% of FTSE 100 and more than 15% of FTSE 350 companies, as well as charities, public bodies and individual investors. Our global reach is extended through MBWL International, a joint venture with Milliman, Lurse and Normandin Beaudry, and through our long-standing affiliation with GLOBACS, where BW has been the UK representative for over 20 years.

Our people are the heart of everything we do. Those who join BW tend to stay, thriving in a professional learning environment and a caring, friendly culture underpinned by WorkSmart, our flexible working framework. They bring a depth of consulting expertise and a breadth of administrative skill, supported by the latest technology — enabling us to tackle everything from advising small clients to managing some of the UK's largest pension schemes. At the core of our culture is a set of behaviours that define how we work every day: building relationships through open communication and mutual respect, finding solutions by staying curious and challenging constructively, and delivering impact by keeping our promises and embracing bold action. Our senior leadership team supports our people and our clients through strong communication, inspiring teams to challenge the norm and find new solutions — with pace, enthusiasm and drive. In everything we do, we hold ourselves to our fundamental commitment: to do the right thing.

We offer a comprehensive range of professional services and proprietary technology across five interconnected practice areas. In risk, we provide advisory and analytics, data and decision-making, governance, people and wellbeing consulting, sustainability services, and a suite of risk technology tools including the BW Risk Portal, Celestia Risk, BoardClic and Swarm AI. Across pensions and benefits, we advise on defined benefit and defined contribution schemes, pension administration, pension management and governance, public sector pensions, employee benefits, group risk, flexible benefits, self-invested pensions and communications. Our investment practice covers DB and DC investment, outsourced investment, sustainable investment, charity and endowment investment, family office advisory and public sector investment consultancy. For insurers, we deliver actuarial consulting, longevity services, capital modelling through validateR, and a full technology suite. Underpinning all of this is a powerful range of proprietary technology platforms — from Illuminate and GEM for pensions, to our employee benefits platform 4me, the LGPS training hub Enlighten, and Clarity from BW — designed to bring clarity to complexity and put better data in the hands of our clients.

Our purpose is clear: we empower people to secure better futures. To bring that to life, we foster strong relationships built on transparency, support growth through continuous learning and challenge, and champion diverse perspectives with respect and kindness. Our resolve for finding solutions means we are always exploring new ideas, addressing challenges head-on and drawing on our collective expertise to drive excellence. We deliver proven, impactful results by honouring our commitments, striving to exceed expectations and embracing the smart risks that propel both us and our clients forward. This is not a statement that sits in a document — it is the lens through which we make every decision, from the advice we give to the culture we build.

At BW, our values are expressed through our behaviours — the mindsets and practices that define who we are in action, not just in aspiration. We build relationships by communicating openly and honestly, enabling others to grow, and treating everyone with dignity, kindness and respect. We find solutions by staying curious, thinking differently, challenging constructively and trusting in the power of collective expertise. We deliver impact by following through on our commitments, setting high standards, and taking bold, purposeful action in pursuit of meaningful change. These behaviours are not imposed from above — they are the natural result of a culture where doing the right thing is the most fundamental expectation of everyone at BW, at every level.

What sets BW apart is the combination of genuine independence, deep specialist expertise and an unwavering commitment to client experience. Because we have no external shareholders, we are free to give advice that is entirely in our clients' best interests — not shaped by commercial pressures elsewhere. Our clients consistently tell us that we listen, respond quickly, tailor our advice to their specific needs and make complex subjects genuinely understandable. That is not our assessment alone: our consultancy and administration services have achieved Investor in Customers Gold accreditation on every assessment since 2017, including a fifth consecutive Gold in 2025 — an achievement the IIC's Managing Director described as a fantastic recognition of truly client-centric culture. We have also been named a Company That Cares by IIC, recognising our people-first approach to service delivery. In an industry where many firms claim to deliver great service, we have independent evidence that we consistently do. Across the market, our work is recognised by some of the most influential organisations in pensions, insurance and investment — and we bring that same standard to every client relationship, large or small.

Narrow views of sustainability leave very few options. At BW, we think critically about sustainable action — moving beyond standard ESG labels to start meaningful conversations with our clients about what responsible stewardship of capital and business operations truly looks like. We lead by example. We have gone beyond our stated carbon net zero target, investing in a carbon offsetting programme with My Carbon Plan that covers emissions from our office space and travel, voluntarily offsetting over 1,684 tonnes of CO2e. Our sustainability strategy is guided by the Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework, and our annual sustainability report sets out our progress in fully integrating climate risks and opportunities into our business, operations, services and client advice. For clients, our sustainability consulting services help organisations navigate the transition to a more sustainable economy — from ESG investing and sustainable investment strategy to carbon emissions reporting through CARAT and sustainable benefits design. Sustainability is not an add-on at BW. It is at the heart of how we operate and how we advise.

We recognise that our impact extends well beyond the advice we give. Through our Corporate Social Investment (CSI) programme, a dedicated team drives meaningful activity aligned to four focus areas: the environment, sustainable development, ethical procurement, and charities and volunteering. Each employee is entitled to one working day per year to volunteer for a recognised good cause, and we match personal donations and sponsorship to charities. Our national charity partner is Mind, the mental health charity, for which we raise funds each year to support those who need it most. We also support the IFoA Foundation, raising funds to open doors for the next generation of actuaries. In our communities, our people volunteer as charity trustees, support organisations with IT and marketing skills, provide maths tutoring for students and offer industry experience to those looking to enter our field. Through our partnership with upReach, we help level the playing field for students from less-advantaged backgrounds. We invest in our community because doing the right thing has always been central to who we are — and because a business that grows sustainably must grow responsibly.

At BW, we develop teams who give — and welcome — different opinions, views and cultural perspectives, bringing a real richness to our day-to-day activities. We believe a diversity of thought achieves better business results, for our clients and for ourselves. Our DEI steering group reports directly to our Management Board and drives initiatives across four dimensions: our business, our community, our thinking and our partnerships. Internally, we embed diversity networks, tackle unconscious bias through our applicant tracking system and spark ongoing conversations through events and shared learning. In our thinking, we go further than surface-level commitments — we have led important work on the gender pensions gap, recognising that the pension system is intrinsically biased towards men and that systemic change is needed. Our partnerships reflect the same ambition: we are members of Inclusion in Finance, co-organisers of the pensions LGBT+ network O:pen, corporate members of LGBT Great, signatories to the Women in Finance Charter and the Asset Owner's Diversity Charter, a Disability Confident Employer, and partners with GAIN, Future Asset and upReach. We want everyone at BW to bring their whole self to work from day one — in a place where every difference is genuinely celebrated, and where no boundary or bias stands in the way of potential.