May 2019

15May

UK. Life expectancy declining: KPMG

Latest research from KPMG debunks the assumption that life expectancy is increasing when in fact it has contracted for the fourth consecutive year. After analysing the mortality of UK retirees on defined benefit plans, the KPMG 2019 Pensions Accounting Survey found median life expectancy has fallen by 0.2 years for current pensioners and 0.1 years for future pensioners. A current pensioner aged 65 for example, is expected to survive a further 21.9 years on average. However, a future pensioner...

May 15, 2019
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15May

Childcare costs fuel gender pension gap

The gender pensions gap is being worsened by the cost of childcare as it causes 36 per cent of women to leave their job which in turn halts pension contributions. A report from not-for-profit pension provider The People’s Pension, published on May 13, found that after having children, nearly half of women (44 per cent) reduced their hours, more than a third (36 per cent) left work altogether and 15 per cent returned to work in a lower grade...

May 15, 2019
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14May

Collective Defined Contribution Schemes: A Fresh Alternative?

The government has given the green light to a new form of defined contribution pension scheme. At least, it is new to the UK. "Collective defined contribution" ("CDC") schemes are common in the Netherlands and Denmark but the idea of introducing this type of scheme into the UK has only relatively recently gained traction. The fact that the Royal Mail wants to put such a scheme in place for its 140,000-strong workforce has provided the impetus...

May 14, 2019
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13May

UK. Number of civil servants on £100,000 pensions trebles

The number of public servants retiring with pensions of more than £100,000 a year has trebled since 2010 as executives in final-salary schemes finish work. NHS, civil service and teaching pension schemes paid six-figure incomes to 375 people last year, up from 117 in 2010, according to data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. More than 115,000 retired public servants are receiving more than the average salary of people in work, now £28,600 a year, up from 78,000...

May 13, 2019
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09May

Stagecoach takes legal action against UK after rail bids rejected

Stagecoach Group said on Wednesday it had begun legal action against Britain’s Department for Transport after the company’s bid to continue operating a rail route was rejected due to concerns over pensions. The Department for Transport has asked rail franchise bidders to take on the full long-term funding risk of parts of the Railways Pension Scheme and disqualified Stagecoach’s bid for the East Midlands franchise because it did not comply with that request. It also disqualified the company from...

May 9, 2019
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08May

UK. Ageing population ‘an opportunity, not a problem’ say MPs

The “problem” of the UK’s ageing population should be recast as one of the most “promising opportunities of the 21st century”, according to MPs at the centre of a new government strategy on longevity. Launched on Tuesday, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Longevity will develop a radical strategy setting out how the working population can stay fit and functional for longer, stressing the business opportunities presented by Britain’s changing demography. “We need to change how we see ageing —...

May 8, 2019
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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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