May 2019

07May

UK. Investors back pension comparison app

Age Wage, a new defined contribution comparison service, is en route to double its funding target after receiving £305,600 from more than 400 investors. On March 18 the fintech company launched a crowdfunding campaign through investment platform Seedrs to raise £175,000 to create the infrastructure around the DB comparison product, with the technology behind it already in place. Henry Tapper, chief executive of Age Wage, announced yesterday (May 6) that the company has almost doubled its target after it...

May 7, 2019
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04May

A Lifetime of Changes: State Pensions and Work Incentives at Older Ages in the UK, 1948-2018

By James Banks, Carl Emmerson We describe the history of state pension policy in the UK since 1948 and calculate summary measures of the generosity of the system over time and the degree to which the it created implicit taxes on, or subsidies to, work at older ages. The time series of these measures, calculated separately for ’example-type’ individuals of different birth cohorts, education and sexes, are then related to the time-series of employment rates at older ages for the equivalent...

May 4, 2019
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03May

UK. Stagecoach ‘asked to take on £1.6bn pensions risk’

Stagecoach has said it refused to accept pensions risks that could have been "well in excess of £1bn" for three rail franchises it was disqualified from bidding for in April. Under one scenario the company estimated it could have been left with liabilities of £1.6bn. Protections offered by the Department for Transport (DfT) were inadequate, the transport group said. Rail firms are facing an estimated £7.5bn pensions gap. Last month, the DfT rejected Stagecoach bids for the East Midlands...

May 3, 2019
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April 2019

30Apr

Malta’s tighter pension rules to affect thousands of UK savers

Malta is introducing tougher pension rules which stipulates that advisers must be regulated in the jurisdiction where their client is based, a move that will affect tens of thousands of British savers. The new rules, due to come into effect on 1 July 2019 according to the Malta Financial Services Authority (MSFA), will impact the way in which pension trustees administer both new scheme applications and existing members on a number of levels. deVere Group estimates that in the...

April 30, 2019
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29Apr

UK. Tougher overseas pension regulations to impact advisers

Advisers must ensure they can still fully service new or existing clients who have transferred their UK pension into an overseas pension scheme following new rule changes, deVere Group has warned. This summer, the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) is implementing new rules which will impact the way in which Pension Trustees administer both new scheme applications and existing members on a number of levels. There are estimated to be about 30,000 UK pensions already transferred into Malta-based Qualifying...

April 29, 2019
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26Apr

The Extinction Rebellion: How Sustainable Finance Can Help Save The Planet

Parts of London were brought to a standstill by the Extinction Rebellion last week. The protesters seek to bring to the public’s attention the ticking time bomb that the human race faces by not addressing climate change seriously or quickly enough. The Extinction Rebellion is more an orderly assembly of rational modest citizens, many of whom have never protested before, than anarchists such as anti-capitalist / global protestors. A seventy-year-old women who was arrested and wished not to be...

April 26, 2019
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25Apr

Prudential Financial closes $2.6 billion in longevity reinsurance agreements

Prudential Retirement®, a unit of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), has concluded about $2.6 billion in previously undisclosed longevity reinsurance contracts, an important signal of an unprecedented start to the 2019 U.K. pension risk transfer market. As part of these transactions, Prudential Retirement is assuming the longevity risks of approximately 16,000 pensioners. This early 2019 de-risking wave has been driven in part by many pensions seeking to close agreements prior to the original March 29 Brexit deadline. But with...

April 25, 2019
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25Apr

UK. British pension fund USSL to buy telecom co KCOM for 504 mln pounds

British pension fund Universities Superannuation Scheme Ltd (USSL) said its Humber Bidco unit would buy telecommunication company KCOM for 504 million pounds ($651.42 million), sending KCOM shares soaring more than 30 percent. Humber Bidco would pay 97 pence per KCOM share in cash, a premium of almost 34 percent. KCOM's directors intend to urge shareholders to vote in favour of the deal which they called "fair and reasonable", USSL said. KCOM shares surged nearly 34 percent - its biggest...

April 25, 2019
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19Apr

UK. DWP publishes guidance on GMP equalisation

The Department for Work and Pensions has published its first round of guidance to help trustees resolve unequal guaranteed minimum pensions today. A GMP is the minimum pension that an occupational pension scheme, contracted out of the additional state pension between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 1997 on a salary-related basis, has to provide to its members. GMPs were abolished for contracted out service after 5 April 1997. The guidance, developed in conjunction with an industry working group, provides a recommended road...

April 19, 2019
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18Apr

UK financial watchdog sets out key focus for year ahead

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said there is an “inherent conflict of interest” when firms use contingent charging structures for DB pension transfers, according to its business plan for 2019/2020, where it assessed its activity for the next financial year. Alongside DB issues, the UK regulator also said it is continuing to consult the industry on further requirements for firms to provide a range of investment pathways to help consumers choose options that meet their needs when entering...

April 18, 2019
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