February 2020

25Feb

UK pensions: New plan to auto enrol teen workers

The Government will outline plans to allow employees to join workplace pension schemes from 18 instead of 22 this week, to build on the success of auto-enrolment. Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey will applaud the scheme for boosting the number of people in retirement savings schemes and reversing years of falling participation rates.  She will add that in order to build on its success, the Government will lower the eligibility age for joining a workplace scheme.  The lower earnings...

February 25, 2020
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25Feb

R3 To Provide Blockchain Identity Solutions To Help Recover $48B In Unclaimed Pensions

Blockchain technology provider, R3 has revealed that it is working on offering pension companies with the requisite technology to develop fresh identity solutions built on blockchain which could enable savers to recoup part or all of $48 billion worth of lost pension pots in the UK, CoinDesk reports. The head of R3’s digital identity unit, Abbas Ali, pension services providers are set to debut their solo solutions that will use R3 tech within this year. According to a study...

February 25, 2020
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21Feb

Staff in 74 UK universities start 2-week strike over pensions

Up to 50,000 staff members in 74 universities across Britain started a 14-day strike on Thursday over disputes on pension, pay and working conditions. Members of the University and College Union (UCU), including lecturers, technicians, librarians and other academic and support staff, are joining the industrial action between Feb. 20 and March 13, potentially affecting 1.2 million students. The UCU said 50,000 of its members will take the action over workloads, pay, a 15 percent gender pay gap,...

February 21, 2020
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20Feb

UK. Pension schemes to share scams intelligence online

The Pension Scams Industry Group is working with anti-fraud organisation Cifas to launch a network of open-source information on suspicious companies and pension arrangements, which specialists say could be an important step in bringing scams under control. The project will allow network members to post concerns about companies and advisers they believe may be acting inappropriately or fraudulently, collecting details on arrangements including names, telephone numbers and addresses. Not-for-profit Cifas has already completed similar work in the banking sector,...

February 20, 2020
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18Feb

UK. Legal & General completes first pension risk transfer deal for housing

Legal & General (L&G) has invested £100m of long term debt financing in its affordable housing business – opening the door for UK pension money to back the provision of such homes. Secured against the income stream of a UK-wide portfolio of operational affordable housing, this represents its first deal to generate attractive matching-adjustment, compliant direct investments from affordable housing for its growing annuity portfolio. A further £175m of development finance is being provided by a consortium of external investors...

February 18, 2020
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13Feb

U.K. Moves to Require Pensions to Disclose Climate Change Plans

British pension funds may soon need to explain how they are fighting climate change under a global framework as the U.K. aims to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. The U.K.’s Department for Work and Pensions said Wednesday that it proposed an amendment to the Pension Schemes Bill that would require pensions to disclose their climate change strategies under the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, a voluntary framework that is widely used by companies. Also Read UK. Government mulls tax...

February 13, 2020
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12Feb

UK. State pension warning: Retirement age set to increase even further in just two years

The state pension age for men and women is currently 65 but will increase to 66 by October 2020. The pension age will then rise to 67 between 2026 and 2028. However, it is “likely” the age will increase further as the Government will review the system from 2023. Speaking to Express.co.uk, Age UK policy expert, Sally West said: “The legislation has been passed to increase the state pension from 66 later this year. “There’s also a law that’s...

February 12, 2020
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11Feb

UK. Government mulls tax raid on top earners’ pensions

According to the Financial Times, chancellor Sajid Javid is weighing up cutting tax relief on pension contributions for higher earners as a way of raising revenue for the state. Under the current system, individuals receive tax relief on their personal contributions at the same rate as their marginal income tax rate. However, the FT reports Javid may cut pension tax relief for higher earners from 40% to 20%, raising more than £10bn extra a year for the state. Inheritance...

February 11, 2020
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10Feb

UK. Only six out of 10 pensions to appear on new ‘dashboards’

Savers hoping to use new “pension dashboard” services to track their retirement savings will only be able to see six out of 10 accounts due to poor data quality, according to a new analysis. Dashboard services are expected to be launched in the UK later this year, giving savers the ability to see all their pension pots — and their combined value — in one online hub for the first time. A new analysis suggests they will offer...

February 10, 2020
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05Feb

FTSE 350 pension deficit increases sharply as UK exits EU

Mercer’s Pensions Risk Survey data shows that the accounting deficit of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes for the UK’s 350 largest listed companies increased from £40bn at the end of December 2019 to £57bn on 31 January. Liability values increased by £34bn to £916bn compared to £882bn at the end of December. The increase was primarily driven by falls in corporate bond yields. Asset values were £859bn (an increase of £17bn compared to the corresponding figure of £842bn at...

February 5, 2020
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