Worked at Merrill Lynch in London? Your pension probably still exists. The name on your payslip may not.

If you worked in London for Merrill Lynch at any time before 2009, or for Smith New Court or Mercury Asset Management before Merrill Lynch bought them, this page is for you. Three firms, three sets of pension records, and an owner today that does not carry the name you remember.

Three firms, one trail

Smith New Court carried that name from 1986 to 1995 (Source: Companies House, the company's list of previous names, read 20 October 2026). Merrill Lynch bought it in the third quarter of 1995 (Source: Merrill Lynch annual report on Form 10-K for 1995, SEC, read 20 October 2026). Merrill Lynch's purchase of Mercury Asset Management was recorded at the end of 1997 (Source: Merrill Lynch filing for 1997, SEC, read 20 October 2026). Bank of America completed its purchase of Merrill Lynch on 1 January 2009 (Source: Bank of America press release of 1 January 2009, SEC, read 20 October 2026).

Why the trail is hard

The pensions followed the businesses, not the brass plates. The London arrangements changed their names several times as the firms were folded together, and older records point to names and administrators that no longer exist. A search under the name on your payslip can lead you to a record that has since been renamed (Source: our reading of the government's pension contact register, read 20 October 2026).

Do I have a pension from my Merrill Lynch years?

It depends first on when you left. The law set a minimum, and a scheme could always be more generous than the law.

If you left after 6 April 1988 with 2 years or more of service, you very likely have a preserved pension, if you were in the scheme.

Sources: the age 26 and 5 year rule, Social Security Act 1973, Schedule 16, paragraph 6(1), read 20 October 2026, in force from 6 April 1975 (Social Security Act 1973 (Commencement No. 2) Order 1973, read 20 October 2026). The age condition ended on 1 January 1986 (Social Security Act 1985, section 1, read 20 October 2026, and Social Security Act 1985 (Commencement No. 2) Order 1985, read 20 October 2026). Five years became two with effect from 6 April 1988 (Social Security Act 1973, Schedule 16 as amended, note on the Social Security Act 1986, section 10, read 20 October 2026). Two years today, and 30 days for money purchase service that began on or after 1 October 2015 (Pension Schemes Act 1993, section 71, read 20 October 2026).

The free official route comes first

The UK government's free Pension Tracing Service gives you contact details for a workplace pension scheme from the name of an employer. It has a limit, in its own words: "This service will not tell you whether you have a pension, or what its value is." (Source: GOV.UK, Find pension contact details, read 20 October 2026.)

With an old City bank, the name is the hard part. The name on your payslip is rarely the name on the record today, and a search for the wrong name finds the wrong scheme or nothing you recognise. Our free pension check starts from your own work history.

Former colleagues

Former Merrill Lynch people keep in touch in groups on LinkedIn:

• Merrill Lynch Alumni
• Merrill Lynch Employees and Alumni
• Merrill Lynch London Alumni
• Smith New Court PLC Alumni

LinkedIn asks you to sign in before it shows a group, so we give the group names only, without member counts. We found no reunion reported in the press.

Frequently asked questions

I was at Smith New Court before Merrill Lynch bought it. Am I covered here? Yes. Smith New Court became part of Merrill Lynch in 1995, and its pension records are part of the same trail. Your report follows it.

I worked at Mercury Asset Management. Is that Merrill Lynch too? Merrill Lynch bought Mercury Asset Management at the end of 1997. Tell us your years when you order, and the report works out which records apply to them.

Do you contact the pension scheme for me? No. We identify who holds the pension and give you what to send. You contact them yourself, and the pension stays yours throughout.

Is the government tracing service not enough? It is the right first step, and it costs nothing. It gives a contact for a scheme name you already have. It will not tell you whether you have a pension, and with Merrill Lynch the name you remember is not the name on the record today.

What if you find nothing? We say so in the report. The refund promise sits next to the order button above.

More of the City's vanished banks: S.G. Warburg, Salomon Brothers, Lehman Brothers, and the A to Z of old names.