May 2022

UK, Risk, Pension management
09May

Windfall tax on oil giants won’t hurt British pensioners, thinktank finds

Britain’s main pension funds own less than 0.2% of Shell and BP shares, undermining claims that a windfall tax on big oil companies would harm the retirement incomes of UK savers. A review of the oil giants’ shares by the Common Wealth thinktank shows the largest holdings are by US investment companies, including BlackRock and Vanguard, and the wealthy Norwegian pension funds. The UK’s multibillion-pound defined contribution occupational pension funds, which hold the savings of tens of millions of workers,...

May 9, 2022
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05May

UK. Pasa sets out good practice for DB transfers

The Pensions Administration Standards Association has published good practice guidance for those dealing with defined benefit transfers. At its annual conference in London yesterday (May 3), Pasa explained that the time taken to process DB transfers varies hugely, and sometimes, unexplained delays damage the relationship members have with their scheme, and pensions in general, which can lead to a breakdown of trust. Some transfers can often take months to execute, while others are processed within a month but administration delays can...

May 5, 2022
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04May

UK. DB schemes with DC AVCs will need to comply with ‘stronger nudge’ regs

Defined benefit (DB) pension schemes with a defined contribution (DC) additional voluntary contribution (AVC) facility will need to comply with the government’s ‘stronger nudge’ regulations that are coming into force from 1 June. LCP noted that as the new rules apply at the benefit level rather than at scheme level, occupational schemes that are mainly DB but have DC AVCs will also be impacted. The stronger nudge to pension guidance will require pension schemes to offer to book a Pension Wise...

May 4, 2022
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03May

UK. Less than third of schemes regularly track individual fund performance

Just 30 per cent of pension schemes regularly monitor individual fund performance as experienced by members, according to new research. Defined contribution schemes must start targeting retirement outcomes over outperforming indices, Aon said in response to its survey of 109 UK DC schemes. In contrast, 90 per cent of schemes are using an index-based perspective for monitoring performance against market indices and benchmarks. Even fewer schemes — 15 per cent of respondents — monitored performance in the context of how it delivered...

May 3, 2022
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Divorcees often don’t understand pension implications – survey
02May

UK. Divorcees often don’t understand pension implications – survey

No-fault divorce in England and Wales may lead to increase in separations – and financial problems One in six divorced people said they did not realise their pension could be affected by splitting up, a survey has found. More than a third said they made no claim on their former partner’s pension, according to the survey of more than 1,000 divorced people. The research, carried out for Aviva, found 8% of divorcees do not have their own pension savings – and had...

May 2, 2022
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April 2022
29Apr

UK. Pension schemes remain uninsured for cyber risks

Nearly half of UK pension schemes still do not have insurance against cyber attacks, and a similar proportion are lacking the specialist skills needed to deal with the threat. That is according to a new report from risk advisory firm Crowe, which surveyed pension scheme trustees on the challenges facing them as fraud and cybercrime levels rise. Worryingly, 43% of respondents said that they had not tested the strength of their scheme's IT systems, processes and procedures for cybercrime protection, while...

April 29, 2022
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28Apr

UK. TPR to issue fresh dashboards guidance in May

The Pensions Regulator will publish new guidance on pensions dashboards to support trustees and scheme managers in early May, it has revealed. At a seminar led by the Pensions Dashboards Programme on April 27, the watchdog also said that nudge communications to all schemes would begin at least a year before their staging dates, with these being aimed at pension trustees and public service pension scheme managers. TPR’s guidance will be updated in November once the DWP’s consultation response to regulations...

April 28, 2022
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26Apr

UK. Two thirds of investors prioritise returns over ESG

Two thirds of UK retail investors do not mind if their investments are sustainable but are instead focused on the returns they bring in. Some 66 per cent of the 1,000 investors surveyed by Charles Schwab UK said they are purely focussed on maximising returns. Just under half (44 per cent) of respondents said they regularly consider environmental, social and governance factors when making a new investment. This drops to 28 per cent among the ‘Boomer’ generation (aged between 57 and 75),...

April 26, 2022
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26Apr

UK. Aegon investing £3bn in BlackRock ESG range

Aegon is investing £3bn of its default funds into a range of ESG index funds launched by BlackRock. The firms worked together on the iShares range, which includes six ESG equity income index funds which track Morningstar’s regional and country-specific indices. The change means that ESG exposure in the Aegon workplace default fund will double to 60 per cent for investors in the growth stage of their retirement savings, and to 40 per cent for those in retirement. A number of other...

April 26, 2022
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25Apr

UK. Govt urged to consider flexible early access to state pension

The government should investigate offering flexibility for people to start taking their state pension up to three years early, but at a reduced level to make it financially fair, Aegon has stated. Responding to a call for evidence into how to set the state pension age in future, Aegon called for a radical overhaul to introduce new flexibilities that would “take state pensions a small step towards private pension freedoms” and support people with more flexible multi-stage lives. Aegon emphasised the...

April 25, 2022
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