The pensions and actuarial team of accountancy practice KPMG will transfer to Watson Wyatt this summer. The two companies announced the move yesterday, writes Dominic Coyle.

KPMG cited the increasing need for significant presence and resources in a market that was getting increasingly sophisticated for its decision.

"This decision has been reached in the light of the growing demand by clients for scale and depth of expertise in these services," said managing partner Mr Denis O'Connor. "This move will aid the continuing development and delivery of a first-class pensions and actuarial service to KPMG's clients."

The firm acknowledged that growing sensitivity about accountancy practices providing consultancy services to companies they also audit had also been a factor, though not the decisive one.

"This is a specific talent that needed to be in a home with with a greater depth of resources," said Mr Raymond McKenna, KPMG head of pensions, who will move with the 10-strong team to become a partner at Watson Wyatt.

Watson Wyatt, which operates across 30 countries, has been looking to increase its presence in the Irish market, especially in providing services to indigenous companies. "This is a signal to the marketplace that we intend to grow our business here," said Mr Derek Hunter, head of the group's benefits practice in Ireland. "We are smaller than we would be in other countries and we are looking to continue to expand here."

KPMG has made a similar move in a number of other jurisdictions, although not in the UK where the pensions business is seen as core to its offering.

KPMG's pensions business is significantly smaller than that of the specialist operators like Mercer, Coyle Hamilton and Watson Wyatt, although it was a "fairly significant business" and larger than the equivalent operations at other Irish accountancy practices, Mr McKenna said