The trustees of pension schemes will often directly own a company’s shares as part of the overall investment portfolio they hold for the pension scheme.  Accordingly, this ownership needs to be reflected in the company’s share register/register of members and any share certificate issued. 

It is often a misconception that the shares should be registered in the name of the pension scheme.  Most pension schemes are set up under trust. As a trust is not a person, it cannot be recorded as the holder of the shares. The shares, as for any other pension investment, are held by the trustees in their names on trust for the beneficiaries of the pension scheme. 
 

For help registering a trust as a shareholder, please see: How Do I Allot or Transfer Shares To a Trust? 

We have also written an in-depth article on how pensions (e.g. SIPPs and SSASes) should be recorded as shareholders. Please see: Pensions owning shares