August 2019

05Aug

UK. Pensions industry making ‘fat living’ from charging savers, MPs claim

Parts of the pension industry are making a “fat living” from people’s savings and should come under tougher scrutiny, MPs have said. In a damning Commons report, the work and pensions committee called for the government to take urgent action against pension funds that fail to disclose how much they charge savers, saying it is “unconvinced” that the industry will act voluntarily on providing transparent information about the costs and charges of investments. MPs have called for providers behind...

August 5, 2019
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02Aug

UK. University pensions deficit could be £23bn

The pension scheme for university academics would face a deficit of £23bn if it had to be rescued by a government-backed pension lifeboat, the scheme's annual accounts show. The figures will stoke a fierce debate about the Universities Superannuation Scheme's (USS) financial position. It has assets of more than £60bn and provides retirement incomes and savings for about 200,000 UK university staff. The USS said it funds the scheme in a "fair and balanced way". In February and March...

August 2, 2019
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July 2019

31Jul

UK. Contingent charging ban could cost advisers £445m

The financial regulator estimates the advice market will see its revenue drop by as much as £445m a year as a result of the ban on contingent charging. According to the regulator's own calculations, the ban will cost advisers between £360m – £445m a year in lost revenue as a result of a drop in demand for and a lower cost of pension transfer advice. This is alongside an estimated cost of between £399m - £598m in...

July 31, 2019
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30Jul

UK. FCA bans contingent charging in new pension advice rules

The FCA has outlined a ban on contingent charging for pension transfer advice as part of a new package of proposals. The regulator says the ban will help to "protect customers from the conflicts of interest which arise where a financial adviser only gets paid if a transfer goes In a statement, the FCA said: "We have carefully considered the available evidence on the impact of banning contingent charging, including how we can maintain access to advice for those groups of consumers...

July 30, 2019
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29Jul

UK: PLSA Launches ESG And Stewardship Guidance

The PLSA published a new guide to help pension funds comply with the new ESG requirements coming into force from 1 October 2019, and support them in achieving good practice into the future. The new ESG requirements stem from a new regulation that was initially proposed by the Department for Work and Pensions in September 2018. The regulations implement the Law Commission's proposals to clarify pension scheme trustees' fiduciary duties in statute and will require pension schemes to have...

July 29, 2019
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29Jul

UK. Growing number of GPs cut shifts to avoid huge pension tax

A growing number of family doctors are reducing the hours they work to avoid a huge and unexpected pension tax bill. The decision increasingly means already-overstretched surgeries have fewer appointments to offer patients. One GP who last year dropped two of her eight sessions a week now intends to drop two more, halving her original workload. “Losing two sessions a week will have a significant impact on waiting times for patients booking appointments and also mean delays in dealing...

July 29, 2019
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26Jul

Industry sets out demands for newly appointed UK chancellor

Boris Johnson started his first day as UK prime minister by sacking 11 members of his predecessor Theresa May’s cabinet in a mass Brexiteer reshuffle. After being elected leader of the Conservative party on Tuesday, Johnson has placed his faith into former home secretary Sajid Javid to become the chancellor of the exchequer. Javid is reportedly set to make drastic changes to prepare for a potential no-deal Brexit, something Johnson is adamant he will carry out if the withdrawal agreement with the...

July 26, 2019
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23Jul

How UK finance is navigating sustainability

These are exciting times in UK sustainable finance as the sector prepares to capitalise on a series of opportunities. The UK sustainable fund management sector is already Europe’s largest with Eurosif data showing that in 2017 nearly £2 trillion of assets was managed using a variety of sustainable finance strategies. Further growth will be driven by new factors. Firstly, regulation is increasingly supportive. Changes to UK pension regulation mean most trust-based schemes will have to start disclosing their policies...

July 23, 2019
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22Jul

U.K. keeps pressure steady on poorly governed plans

Defined contribution master trusts in the U.K. could see an additional boost in assets as the U.K. Pensions Regulator pressures single-employer plans to step up their governance and investment oversight. The Pensions Regulator has been on a mission to weed out poorly governed defined contribution plans in the U.K. for quite some time. After asking master trusts, also called multiemployer DC plans, to obtain new operating permissions to stay in the market, the number of DC master trusts was...

July 22, 2019
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19Jul

Reconstructing Retirement: Work and Welfare in the UK and USA

By David Lain In the United Kingdom, retirement programs are being reconstructed to follow the American practice of abolishing mandatory retirement and increasing state pension ages. This timely book compares prospects for work and retirement at age sixty five-plus in both the United States and the United Kingdom. After exploring the shifting logic behind both nations' policies--policies that increase both the need and opportunities to work past age sixty five--David Lain presents an original comparative statistical analysis on the...

July 19, 2019
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