Measures needed so legacy pensions profit by bulk transfers

The DWP paper focusses on employers consolidating more than one occupational pension scheme or transferring from trust to master trust. It also considers relaxing the restrictions on bulk transfers of stakeholder pension scheme members. Aegon is calling on the DWP to broaden the scope of its review to pave the way for many more members to benefit from bulk transfers without the need for individual consent. Steven Cameron, Pensions Director at Aegon said: “We’re pleased that DWP is exploring how...

PFRDA to soon announce names of nine pension fund managers

Pension fund regulator PFRDA will announce in the next 10 days the names of nine pension fund managers (PFMs) shortlisted by it under the new variable commission structure, a top official said today. Pension fund regulator PFRDA will announce in the next 10 days the names of nine pension fund managers (PFMs) shortlisted by it under the new variable commission structure, a top official said on Wednesday. Moreover, the Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA) is hopeful that Atal Pension...

Chinese military veterans stage protests in central Beijing over pensions

Chinese military veterans have demonstrated in central Beijing for two days, demanding unpaid retirement benefits in a new wave of protests highlighting the difficulty in managing demobilized troops. Hundreds of protesters, dressed in green and blue camouflage fatigues, gathered on Wednesday morning outside the Communist Party's anti-corruption agency, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, standing in rows and chanting slogans. Reuters was sent footage of the protest by participants. A smaller gathering of protesters congregated outside the Ministry of Civil Affairs on...

Ruth Brunn finally said yes to marijuana. She is 98. She pops a green pill filled with cannabis oil into her mouth with a sip of vitamin water. Then Ms. Brunn, who has neuropathy, settles back in her wheelchair and waits for the jabbing pain in her shoulders, arms and hands to ebb. “I don’t feel high or stoned,” she said. “All I know is I feel better when I take this.” Ms. Brunn will soon have company. The nursing home in...

Companies could offer less generous pensions under government proposals

The government is proposing to allow businesses to remove the link between retirees’ pensions and the retail price index (RPI), in a move that could alleviate the pressure on the UK’s drastically underfunded defined benefit (DB) pensions regime. The plans – contained in a new green paper published by the Department for Work and Pensions – are likely to prove controversial, with one estimate claiming they could cost the average employee £20,000 over the course of their retirement. The move could...