September 2021
23Sep

CDCs could be the new annuities, say regulators

Collective defined contribution schemes could become a popular alternative to annuities if their risks can be contained, according to the Pensions Regulator and Financial Conduct Authority. Speaking at a Work and Pensions Committee hearing this morning, David Fairs, executive director at The Pensions Regulator, said CDC schemes had many advantages over defined contribution schemes and in future could be rolled out to multiple employers and master trusts, hence become the new pension product of choice for many. CDCs are a half-way...

September 23, 2021
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22Sep

UK. The Pensions Regulator’s new criminal powers – how worried should companies and pension scheme trustees be?

The Pension Schemes Act 2021 (Act), which came into force on 11 February 2021, introduced new criminal offences to bolster the Pensions Regulator's moral hazard regime. Most notably, it will now be a criminal offence to engage in activity that has a materially detrimental impact on scheme benefits. The offence is punishable by an unlimited fine and up to seven years in jail. This offence operates alongside a civil penalty of up to £1 million. In this article, we take...

September 22, 2021
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21Sep

UK. Guy Opperman reappointed as pensions minister

Guy Opperman has been reappointed as pensions and financial inclusion minister after a reshuffle that saw the governmental pensions team largely unchanged. Minister since 2017, Opperman has spearheaded multiple pensions policy initiatives, including dashboards, collective defined contribution, superfunds, and simpler statements. Writing on Twitter yesterday (19 September), Opperman said: "Serving as a minister on behalf of the elected government, the prime minister and Her Majesty is a genuinely great honour and wonderfully challenging." He said he was "very proud of what we...

September 21, 2021
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20Sep

UK. Dipping into pension could cost savers their benefits

People using pension freedoms to dip into their retirement pot at 55 could end up losing their benefits, Sir Steve Webb, partner at LCP and former pensions minister, has warned. According to Webb, as furlough schemes finish and the additional £20 on universal credit payments comes to an end, people who are over 55 and still working might become concerned about their jobs or might find themselves made redundant. This could put a strain on people's finances, and lead to them...

September 20, 2021
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17Sep

Driving Value for Money in defined contribution pensions

By The Pensions Regulator & Financial Conduct Authority This discussion paper was published jointly by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority and The Pensions Regulator. A focus on Value for Money (VFM) is a key part of ensuring defined contribution (DC) pensions maximise the income savers have at retirement. In this discussion paper, we invite views on developing a holistic framework and related metrics to assess VFM in all FCA and TPR regulated DC pension schemes (workplace and non-workplace). At this stage, we...

September 17, 2021
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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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