September 2021
17Sep

UK watchdogs team up to gauge value for money in DC pensions

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and The Pensions Regulator (TPR) have published a joint discussion paper on developing a common framework for measuring value for money in defined contribution (DC) pension schemes. The aim is “to drive a long-term focus on value for money across the pensions sector”, they said in a statement. Read also UK. Dashboard will not have accurate DB quotations DC savers can only maximise their retirement income if their scheme delivers value for money and the regulators said...

September 17, 2021
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17Sep

Aviva : announces £320m bulk annuity deal with the John Laing Pension Fund

Aviva today announces it has completed a £320m bulk purchase annuity transaction with the John Laing Pension Fund. John Laing is an active investor and manager of infrastructure projects, focused on major transport, social and environmental infrastructure projects and renewable energy projects, across a range of international markets including the UK. This is the second buy-in transaction between Aviva and the John Laing Pension Fund. It follows a £211 million transaction in December 2008. Aviva will insure the defined benefit...

September 17, 2021
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15Sep

US. The State Pension Funding Gap: Plans Have Stabilized in Wake of Pandemic

The nation’s state retirement systems finished the 2021 fiscal year in their best condition since the Great Recession of 2007-09. According to projections by The Pew Charitable Trusts, the gap between the cost of pension benefits that states have promised their workers and what they have set aside to pay for them dropped in 2021 to its lowest level in more than a decade. Pew estimates that state retirement systems are now over 80% funded for the first time...

September 15, 2021
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14Sep

UK. Dashboard will not have accurate DB quotations

The Society of Pension Professionals has warned pension dashboards will have to provide illustrative figures to defined benefit members, as it will not be possible to have accurate quotations due to the complexity of current benefit structures. In a report published today (September 13), the industry body made a series of recommendations to the Department of Work and Pensions and the Pensions Dashboard Programme on how estimated retirement income calculations should be approached from the beginning of the project's rollout. Since...

September 14, 2021
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10Sep

The Government Debt Iceberg

By Jagadeesh Gokhale Europe and the United States will soon begin to encounter fiscal constraints the like of which we have never seen before. Federal debt as a percentage of GDP more than doubled between 2000 and 2012. According to the US Congressional Budget Office, total national debt is expected to remain close to 100 per cent of GDP during the next decade and begin to increase thereafter as the baby-boomers fully enter retirement. · Debt levels in European Union countries...

September 10, 2021
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08Sep

UK. Pensions triple lock scrapped as another Conservative manifesto pledge broken

The pensions triple lock pledge has been scrapped for the 2022/23 financial year in another break of pledges made in the Conservative party manifesto. Read also UK. Scottish fintech firm set to help build pensions dashboard The moves announced today mean that pensions will not rise by 8% next April, but will instead rise by the rate of inflation, which currently stands at 2.5%. The triple lock ensures the state pension will increase in line with either the rate of inflation, wages,...

September 8, 2021
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07Sep

UK. Scottish fintech firm set to help build pensions dashboard

The Pensions Dashboards Programme has appointed its central digital architecture suppliers, with technology services giant Capgemini and Scottish fintech firm Origo delivering the pensions finder, authorisation service and governance register. The procurement followed an extensive period of engagement, with both the pensions industry and potential suppliers, which shaped the development of the technical requirements. The five-month procurement started with the invitation to tender in April and its conclusion marks the end of the first phase of the programme. It now moves into...

September 7, 2021
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03Sep

UK. Pension contributions hold up well despite Covid

Workers kept up with payments into their pension funds last year, confounding fears that many people might scrap or cut their contributions because of pandemic pressures, according to government data. Annual savings from eligible savers rose to £105.9bn, from £100.4bn in 2019, said the Department of Work and Pensions in a report on Thursday. That extends the increases posted since 2012, following the introduction of auto-enrolment into work-based pension schemes to boost retirement saving. The DWP said a fall in employee...

September 3, 2021
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03Sep

Why pensions engagement can’t wait for your retirement

Prospect pensions officer Stewart Mott looks ahead to the events that Prospect will be holding to mark Pensions Awareness Day later this month and explains why, even though your retirement might seem far off, it is still important that you start engaging with your pension now. It’s easy to neglect our pensions, we save for retirement over many years, and often don’t have a reason to engage with our pension unless we are moving to a new employer. Pension Awareness Day...

September 3, 2021
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03Sep

Policy Forum: Tax, Social Security, and Employment Status – Removing the Distortions in the United Kingdom

By Judith Freedman The COVID-19 pandemic has strained tax and social security systems. Cracks that have existed for some time have been opened up further and are unlikely to close without structural repair. New insights into the shifting nature of work, combined with the development of technologies that can provide modern, practical solutions to old problems, offer the opportunity to rethink the way we tax gig workers and other non-standard providers of labour. This article argues that we need to...

September 3, 2021
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