September 2017

13Sep

UK. Judge attacks Department for Work and Pensions for failing to tackle benefits cheats

A judge has attacked the Department for Work and Pensions for failing to tackle benefits cheats and said he thinks they should be forced to pay back money sooner. Judge Nicholas Dean QC said long delays made it harder to send fraudsters to prison as prosecutions take several years to reach court. The wait means offenders are able to dispose of money and assets which could be seized by the Government and used to make up for the fraudulent payments,...

September 13, 2017
News, Slider
Read more...
12Sep

Tata Steel UK’s pensions deal approved by regulator

Steel firm Tata's bid to separate its UK pension scheme from the business has been approved by the pensions regulator. The £15bn British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) has been a significant barrier to any potential merger between Tata and German steel producer ThyssenKrupp. The deal affects thousands of current and former workers, with 130,000 members across the UK. All members of the BSPS will now be invited to transfer to a new scheme. It would have lower future annual increases for...

September 12, 2017
News, Slider
Read more...
12Sep

UK. NEST withdraws investment from low carbon laggards

NEST, the workplace pension scheme set up by the UK government, will today urge investment managers to push for higher environmental and corporate governance standards as it announces further progress against the green investment strategy deployed across its £2bn portfolio. The National Employment Savings Trust (NEST), which provides 5.4 million UK workers with pensions under the government's auto-enrolment scheme, revealed it has withdrawn £27.2m of investments in the past year from companies it said were not making sufficient progress towards...

September 12, 2017
News, Slider,
Read more...
04Sep

UK. Robots and AI can bring down pension age, says TUC

The TUC has urged the government to use productivity gains from the greater use of robots and artificial intelligence to reverse planned changes to the state pension age. Before its annual congress in Brighton, the TUC said higher levels of productivity thanks to technological innovation ought to bring greater benefits for working people. It said recent progress had mainly benefited business owners, rather than being shared across the workforce through better wages and working conditions. Analysis from the accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers suggests...

September 4, 2017
News, Slider
Read more...
01Sep

Hanging On The Telephone : UK Government’s Consultation Response on Pension Scams

It’s time to hang up on cold callers! The loss of pension savings can have a devastating impact on an individual’s plans for retirement but this is an unfortunate reality for those who have fallen victim to pension scammers. The UK Government’s consultation response on pension scams shows its clear intention to ban cold calling in relation to pensions. A few thoughts Although the ban should help to limit the number of pension scams, individuals and trustees will still need...

September 1, 2017
News, Slider
Read more...

August 2017

30Aug

Pension deficit now equals 70% of UK companies’ entire annual profits fuelling retirement fears

The huge deficit in the pension funds of the UK’s biggest listed firms rocketed last year, adding to concerns over how companies’ schemes will fund workers’ retirement incomes. The gap between the expected returns of FTSE 350 companies’ pension funds and the amount they are projected to pay out jumped by £12bn to £62bn in 2016, according to new research by actuaries Barnett Waddingham. The yawning gap is equivalent to 70 per cent of the entire annual profits of those firms...

August 30, 2017
News, Slider
Read more...
29Aug

UK. Report hits out at lack of advice for DB members

Just five per cent of defined benefit schemes provide access to a named financial adviser selected by the trustees or employer. While nine in ten schemes stress the importance of seeking financial advice to members, a new report from Royal London and management consultants Lane, Clark and Peacock shows significant gaps in getting the required help. The report says: “Whereas a transfer out of DB rights worth £30,000 or more carries a requirement to take financial advice, there may be no...

August 29, 2017
News, Slider
Read more...
24Aug

UK. Parlament Probes USS Pension Plan

A prominent member of British parliament and chairman of the work and pensions committee is pressing the country's largest privacy-sector pension fund for details on how it will cut its £17.5 billion ($22.4 billion) deficit. The Universities Superannuation Scheme, or USS, is set for closer scrutiny after the parliamentary committee's chairman Frank Field wrote its trustee board asking how it plans to shore up its increasing shortfall. With more than £60 billion in assets under management, USS tends to be the preferred...

August 24, 2017
News, Slider
Read more...
24Aug

UK. Transfer delays cost pension savers over £1 billion

Pension transfer delays are costing consumers a total of over £1 billion, according to new research by online pension consolidation service PensionBee – a cost that could be avoided by transferring pensions electronically. There are 33.4 million defined contribution pension pots in the UK, and the research assumes that they will each be transferred at some point at least once, whether to consolidate pensions, purchase an annuity or be put into a new account for drawdown purposes. The transfer process is...

August 24, 2017
News, Slider
Read more...
23Aug

UK. What makes a good pension investment strategy?

In the last 18 months, the UK has experienced a Brexit referendum, the appointment of a new prime minister, the triggering of Article 50 to leave the European Union, a General Election in which the government lost its majority, and the beginning of critical negotiations with the EU on trade, citizens’ rights and financial contributions post-Brexit. This has all been amid a Trump presidency, European elections, and an unpredictable global economic climate. It’s no surprise then that the political and...

August 23, 2017
News, Slider
Read more...