A new business that aims to help UK and international pension funds get their share of money awarded in US securities class actions has appointed a trio of City firms to act on its panel.

According to Caroline Goodman, managing director of IPS, anywhere between 20% and 50% of settlement monies on a successful US class action go unclaimed. Pension funds trying to recover money have previously found the process for making a claim extremely difficult and expensive.


The law firms - SJ Berwin, Lovells and Stephenson Harwood - will advise institutions on fulfilling their fiduciary obligations to collect money due to their members or shareholders following class actions.


Mark Catchpole, a pensions partner at Stephenson Harwood, said: 'From the trustees' point of view, the concern is there is money out there they should be getting their hands on, and whether they are at risk if they fail to take steps to secure it.'


Up to four securities actions are launched each week in the US. Settlements agreed after the collapse of Enron reached $6 billion (£3.4 billion) alone. IPS founders designed a system previously used to make payments after the Swiss banking holocaust assets settlement.