UK – Watson Wyatt says it has been appointed by chemicals firm Ciba Specialty Chemicals to manage its UK pensions administration and accounting, replacing KPMG (Updates with fresh quotes).

Ciba chose Watson Wyatt in part because of its ability to offer a web-based solution, the consulting firm said.

"We found the KPMG administration team to be very committed and focused,” Jackie Broughton, Ciba’s pension fund manager, told IPE. “However, periodically, we review available service providers on the basis of cost and service capability.

“In addition to cost effectiveness, Watson Wyatt offered a proven IT capability that closely matched our needs. The company's focus on pensions administration also weighed in its favour.”

"We are delighted to have been appointed to work with Ciba,” said Watson Wyatt partner Clive Witherington. “The respective people involved in the evaluation process met on several occasions and developed a very good rapport and understanding of each others’ requirements.”

Watson said Ciba's £400m (€602m) defined benefit scheme has around 4,500 members. A KPMG spokeswoman was not immediately able to comment.

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