The Trust Fund
The Open Trust Fund is invested to achieve capital growth over the medium to long term (5 years +) in a diverse portfolio of assets including, but not limited to, equities, fixed interest, property and cash with a global geographical spread.
The assets are managed by Quilter Cheviot and assisted by independent financial advisers. The performance of the Trust Fund is monitored continually and measured against standard industry benchmarks to ensure above average returns with appropriate controls on risk and volatility.
The assets of the Trust Fund are independently audited annually, and an annual actuarial report is prepared by independent actuaries. The assets are held in a segregated account on behalf of the trustees, separate from the assets of Open Prepaid Funerals Limited.
The Board of Trustees
Trevor Law
Trevor is highly experienced and has been an independent financial adviser for over 30 years, specialising in asset management and trusts. He is a past Director and shareholder in Eastcote Wealth Management Ltd and has been a trustee of The Open Trust since inception in 2003. Trevor is extremely well known in local legal and accounting circles and has written a weekly column for the Birmingham Post for over 10 years and many other journals.
David Bastock
David is the Managing Director of C. Bastock Funeral Directors, a family firm established in 1856. He is also one of the founders of Open Prepaid Funerals Limited. His long standing commitment to customer service and to the professionalism of the funeral directing industry was instrumental in the drive to create Open Prepaid Funerals and ensure a secure future for independent funeral directors. David has been a trustee since the launch of the fund in 2003.
Tim Andrews MBE
Tim is a strategic Chair / CEO with a significant record of success and achievement in business, sporting and the third sector. He’s a collaborative leader, with excellent communication skills and the ability to create and maintain strong relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders across the business and political landscape.
An advocate for sport and a passionate ambassador of the West Midlands region, with a desire to have a positive social and economic impact on communities. Tim Co-founded the LoveBrum charity in 2015.
Elizabeth Foster MCMI DL
With over fifty years experience in the insurance profession and for the last eighteen years Liz has been a faculty/board member of the Chartered Insurance Institute with responsibility for upholding ethics and the professional development and qualifications of members.
Liz has a passion for and belief in the future of young people through the role of chairman of the parents committee at a Worcestershire school and then as school governor - going on to be chair of governors, for a Birmingham girls grant maintained school.
A Non-Executive Director of the Society of Insurance Broking at the Chartered Insurance Institute; member of the National Resilience Roundtable; Co founder of TotusRe; Board Member of Maggie’s Coventry; Governor of Coventry University; Deputy Lieutenant for the West Midlands.
John Taplin
John is Managing Director and co-founder of Open Prepaid Funerals Limited and has been a trustee since 2003. John is responsible for the growth and development of Open Prepaid Funerals Limited with his team and follows the business commitment of providing excellent levels of service and product.
Financial Advisors
Rob Kenyon
Financial conduit to the Open Trust Fund Trustees. Rob works with the investment managers and the trustees to help ensure that payments to funeral directors at the time of need meet expectations. He has worked in financial services for 13 years most recently as an independent financial adviser with Eastcote Wealth Management Ltd. A member of STEP, the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, and a Chartered Financial Planner, Rob has extensive experience in advising trustees on investing trust money.
Trust Reports
Our most recent SAR and summary are now available using the link below.
As a prepaid funeral plan provider regulated by the FCA we publish our annual SAR which is produced by Atkin Pensions, the actuaries for the trust fund.
SARs are not produced to compare one provider with another, and they do not contain sufficient information for a fair comparison to be done. SARs themselves do not allow people to make comparisons between different Trusts and each provider can make their own assumptions around funeral cost growth and other factors.
Dates that reports were created also make it impossible to use SARs to compare one provider to another as markets fluctuate daily and not all reports have the same year end. So, with this in mind please feel free to read the Open Prepaid Funerals Trust SAR and, like all other SARs, treat it as an annual report of the trust position, much like a set of business accounts. Fundamentally, it’s historic performance, company ethos and reputation that really matter.
View the Open Prepaid Funerals Trust SAR - 2024