DWA was founded in 2009 to provide Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution pension schemes with a fresh approach to delivering investment advice. Our approach is based on plain talking, pragmatic advice delivered by experts in manager evaluation and selection.

We recognise that every client is different and faces different challenges, dependent on their structure and circumstances. That is why we tailor our advice. We are committed to adding value by focusing on the critical issues facing our clients. We provide outcome-based solutions – ensuring alignment of the interests of investment managers with those of our clients – we believe these deliver the best possible results for pension schemes. We prefer to work on performance related fees, ensuring that our interests are closely aligned to those of our clients. We take a long term view of relationships with our clients, focusing on their strategic objectives and constructing portfolios which provide innovative investment solutions that make a real difference to them.

When the company was founded in 2009, we recognised the need for a fresh approach to providing investment advice for clients: an approach that delivered straightforward, clear advice in a cost-effective way.
Our core principle of providing truly independent advice (we don’t own investment products), coupled with our belief in building long-term relationships, has resulted in DWA having grown steadily and organically into a consultancy with £34bn of assets under advice.
DWA is proud of its track record of being the first:

• to set up a master trust;
• to implement target date funds in the UK;
• to develop a multi-asset sharia-compliant option;
• to change defaults in response to pensions freedoms;
• to set up non-advised drawdown for the ordinary DC member, not just the wealthy;
• to build private market portfolios designed to complement public market investments in order to optimise diversification and reduce risk;
• to advise pension plans on investment in successful first-time funds in private markets;
• to advise on private investments in private markets, including Mexico and Africa; and
• to be involved in Independent Governance Committees for insurers.

We are especially pleased that many of our firsts have been in conjunction with our clients and believe that this forms the basis of our powerful partnerships with them. The DWA team.