October 2018

24Oct

UK. Savers top-up pensions as Budget cut looms

Pension provider Zurich has seen pension top-ups soar ahead of next week’s Budget as fear of pension tax relief cuts loom. Cash flowing into pensions on Zurich’s investment platform increased 98 per cent in September, compared to the annual average. The value of one-off pension contributions also jumped 161 per cent from the 12-month average as savers invested larger amounts, the provider said. Alistair Wilson, Zurich’s head of retail platform strategy, said people were "making the most of the higher pension savings...

October 24, 2018
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23Oct

Study: Nearly 90 per cent of pension savings not accounting for climate risks

Assessment of world's 100 largest pension funds finds only 13 per cent have been assessed for their exposure to climate-related risks Up to £7.5tr of savings managed by the world's largest pension funds are potentially exposed to climate-related risks and have yet to undergo any formal climate risk assessment, a new analysis released today reveals. Non-profit initiative the Asset Owners Disclosure Project (AODP) assessed the world's 100 largest pension funds for the study and found just 13 per cent of savings...

October 23, 2018
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18Oct

UK sitting on £20bn of unclaimed pension pots

Some 1.6 million lost pension pots worth nearly £20bn remain unclaimed, with people often losing track of their savings due to job changes or moving house, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) says, reffering to the figures as “jaw-dropping”. Research by the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) on behalf of the ABI revealed 800,000 lost pensions worth an estimated £9.7bn. If scaled up to the whole market, it estimates there are collectively around 1.6 million pots worth £19.4bn unclaimed – the equivalent...

October 18, 2018
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17Oct

UK. FCA to require climate change disclosure for pension schemes

The FCA is consulting on rule changes requiring workplace personal pension scheme providers to disclose their ESG considerations, including climate change. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is consulting on rule changes requiring workplace personal pension scheme providers to disclose their environmental, social and governance () considerations, including climate change. In a discussion paper published this morning, the regulator said pension providers must increasingly recognise that 'climate change may reduce investment values and pension outcomes'. The FCA suggested this was particularly important for...

October 17, 2018
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17Oct

UK. Pension fund manager found guilty of stealing almost £1m

A pension fund manager at the UK’s Westminster City Council has been found guilty of stealing nearly £1m from an employee retirement scheme. Ian Woodall, 47, duped colleagues into approving successive payments by disguising them as investments. Over the three years from 2009, Woodall siphoned off £924,841 from the £1bn employee pension fund. Woodall then transferred the money to Swiss bank accounts and later moved it back into his British accounts, from where he used the money to refurbish his new...

October 17, 2018
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16Oct

South Africa Loses QROPS Status For Expat Pensions

South Africa has dropped off the list of financial jurisdictions offering QROPS expat offshore pensions. The latest HM Revenue & Customs QROPS List published on October 15, 2018, confirms the removal of the last QROPS based in South Africa. The ABSA Group Pension Fund was the final South African QROPS. Neither ABSA or HMRC have commented about the removal. Generally, QROPS are delisted for three main reasons: HMRC is probing the administrative or tax status of the scheme The last member has drawn down on...

October 16, 2018
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12Oct

The Creation and Benchmarking of a Green Municipal Bond Index

By Candace Partridge (University College London - QASER Laboratory), Francesca Medda (University College London - QASER Laboratory) As the green bond market grows, many are wondering if there is a pricing difference between green bonds and conventional bonds. In order to explore these ideas, we created bond indices specific to the green-labelled and climate-aligned municipal bond market, primarily to test the competitiveness of the green sector of the muni bond market against the overall muni bond market. We used the...

October 12, 2018
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09Oct

UK. Pensions rules leave women shortchanged

Women born in the 1950s are on the march about cuts to their state pensions, says Pamela Judge, while Judith Abbs is underwhelmed by the increase she’ll get for being 80 Letters On 10 October, 1950s-born women and their supporters will travel from all over the UK to Parliament Square in London to stand shoulder to shoulder and protest about the loss of up to six years’ state pension, for many a sum of over £40,000. We received little or no...

October 9, 2018
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08Oct

UK. Many workers mistrust pensions industry, survey finds

Many people still mistrust the pensions industry, according to a report which found a strong appetite among workers for their money to be saved with ethics in mind. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of people think it is important their pension scheme considers the environment, society and corporate behaviour when investing their money, a survey of members of workplace pension scheme Nest found. But general levels of trust in pensions are low and seem unchanging, according to its report. Nest also carried out a...

October 8, 2018
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08Oct

UK. Legal & General strikes 2.4 billion pounds pension de-risking deal

Legal & General (LGEN.L) said on Monday it had agreed a deal to insure 2.4 billion pounds in pension risk with the Nortel Networks UK Pension Plan, adding its deal pipeline was at a record high. L&G is at the forefront of demand from some insurers to take on pension-related risk from companies, so-called ‘bulk annuities’, and said at the half-year stage that it expected sales to drive earnings into the end of the year. The deal with Nortel allows the...

October 8, 2018
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