March 2026
18Mar

UK pension investors cut US exposures amid global volatility

UK institutional investors responded to last year’s trade, tariff and geopolitical disruption with selective changes rather than wholesale portfolio resets, according to new research. Figures from Nuveen’s 2026 EQuilibrium Global Institutional Investor Survey showed that 11% of UK investors made significant portfolio changes in response to the disruptions of 2025, the second-highest proportion globally. But the survey also suggests investors did not see the year simply as a source of risk: 73% said 2025 delivered more upside than downside to their...

March 18, 2026
News, ,
Read more...
18Mar

More than half of Gen X heading for ‘pension shock’

More than half of Generation X are heading for inadequate retirement incomes, with 7.5 million people facing a potential “pension shock” when they retire, the Social Market Foundation (SMF) has warned. The report found that 54 per cent of Gen X - those born between 1965 and 1980 - were projected to have retirement incomes below what is needed to maintain their current standard of living or meet basic living costs. The research, based on a survey of more than 2,000...

March 18, 2026
News, ,
Read more...
17Mar

UK. Govt urged to carefully consider interventions in pension scheme investment

The government should carefully consider any intervention in domestic pension scheme investment and identify the specific ‘market failures’ it intends to address, a joint report from Frontier Economics and LCP has argued. The UK pension schemes and productive finance – a framework for effective intervention report argued there was no clear case for the government to override trustees’ judgments when acting in member interest, or to set top-down targets for total levels of ‘productive’ investment. It highlighted there were big differences in investment...

March 17, 2026
News, ,
Read more...
13Mar

UK pension fund to vote against boards backpedaling on climate

UK pension giant Nest will now vote against board chairs where the company they oversee has materially scaled back its climate commitments without explanation. Updating its voting policy, Nest said where adjustments are made to transition strategies, boards are expected to provide clear and evidence-based reasoning to shareholders. It said it will now be more explicit in its voting approach to support constructive dialogue with companies. Nest director of responsible investment Diandra Soobiah said the update builds on the existing approach...

March 13, 2026
News, , ,
Read more...
11Mar

How the UK’s largest pension schemes have navigated recent volatility

Leading pension scheme investment bosses have highlighted the importance of appropriate governance processes to help navigate periods of volatility. On a panel discussion at the Pensions UK Investment Conference in Edinburgh this week, senior representatives from three of the UK’s largest pension managers explained that clear delegation and communication were key to successfully navigating volatility. Joe McDonnell, chief investment officer at Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, said his asset allocation committee had been meeting “more frequently” in recent weeks to assess...

March 11, 2026
News, ,
Read more...
11Mar

How to fix the UK’s 37% pension gap

The UK’s gender pension gap is one of the largest in the developed world. On average, British women retire with pensions around 37% lower than men’s, according to OECD data.1 That gives us the second-largest gender pension gap among the 38 developed economies the organisation looks at. This isn’t just a statistic. It translates into: Less financial independence in later life Greater reliance on partners or the state Higher risk of poverty in retirement More difficult choices about when (or whether)...

March 11, 2026
News,
Read more...
06Mar

Iran conflict: markets and money questions answered

Geopolitical events can move markets quickly and unpredictably. The escalation of tensions involving Iran has prompted understandable questions from investors about what it means for markets, energy prices, interest rates and household finances. Periods like this often bring heightened volatility as markets attempt to price in uncertainty. Investors reassess risks to global growth, inflation and trade, particularly when events affect strategically important regions such as the Middle East. History suggests that while markets can react sharply in the short term —...

March 6, 2026
News
Read more...
05Mar

UK. DWP State Pension age change begins April 2026 as payment increase confirmed

The State Pension age is due to increase from 66 to 67 from next month, with the change anticipated to be fully implemented for all men and women across the UK by 2028. This proposed rise in the official retirement age has been in place since 2014, with an additional increase from 67 to 68 planned between 2044 and 2046. The Pensions Act 2014 brought forward the State Pension age increase from 66 to 67 by eight years. The UK...

March 5, 2026
News, ,
Read more...
04Mar

UK. Government urged to withdraw mandation from Pensions Bill

Pensions UK is calling on the Government to withdraw the power that would allow it to direct how pension schemes invest UK workers’ retirement savings from the Pension Schemes Bill. As drafted, the reserve power extends significantly beyond the Government’s stated intention of supporting the Mansion House Accord, a voluntary commitment by 17 of the largest workplace pension providers to invest at least 10% of their defined contribution (DC) default funds in private markets by 2030, with 5% of the...

March 4, 2026
News, ,
Read more...

February 2026
27Feb

UK. Reform’s pension plan could backfire and lead to higher council tax bills, experts warn

Reform’s flagship plans to force multibillion pound local government pension funds to invest in the UK risks backfiring and pushing up council tax bills, experts have warned. Nigel Farage’s party wants to merge the schemes to create a single British Sovereign Wealth Fund of up to £575bn. Richard Tice, the party’s business spokesman, set out a vision of a “fund patriotically backing British companies, buying and promoting British product… (with a) strategic UK growth mandate backing Britain all the way.” Across England and Wales...

February 27, 2026
News
Read more...