August 2017

04Aug

UK. State Pension rise: insurance loophole could put workers at risk

The government's announcement that it is speeding up the increase in the State Pension age might be causing problems for people with income protection. Last week, work and pensions secretary David Gauke announced that the increase in the State Pension age – from 67 to 68 – is being brought forward and will now be phased in between 2037 and 2039. This change could leave people with income protection insurance facing a one-year gap in cover between when their benefits end...

August 4, 2017
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03Aug

UK. Scotland facing ageing population timebomb

Scotland is facing a demographic time bomb in the coming decades with a sharp rise in the older population, prompting fears over how hard-pressed services will cope. The number of pensioners will soar by 28 per cent in just 25 years, according to official figures from the Registers of Scotland released yesterday. The figure has led to calls for the “swift action” from the Scottish Government to deal with the expected spike in demand at hospitals and social care departments. And there...

August 3, 2017
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02Aug

UK. Is the pensions industry ready for cyber-attacks and GDPR

Stuart Price, Partner and Actuary at pensions specialist Quantum Advisory in Bristol, looks into the increasingly important role of cyber security in the pensions industry Pension schemes, the vast sums of money in them, and the personal information they hold such as bank details and national insurance numbers, mean they are a key target for organised cybercrime units. Should a cyber-attack take place, which is looking ever more likely due to advances in technology, the consequences, which may go unnoticed...

August 2, 2017
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02Aug

UK. Government banks £5bn by delaying 1.1m women’s state pensions

The Government has saved more than £5bn as a result of raising the age at which women start receiving their state pension, a new report has found. The figure - which has been calculated by the authoritative think tank the Institue of Fiscal Studies - is the first to attempt to quantify the benefit to the Exchequer of making a cohort of women wait as long as six years for their state pension. It will fuel the anger of those women,...

August 2, 2017
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01Aug

UK. Coats restores dividend as it ties off pensions dispute

  Coats Group, the world’s largest manufacturer of thread yarn and zips, has shaken off a three-year dispute with the pensions regulator to reinstate its interim dividend amid rising profits. In the six months to the end of June, the company’s revenues rose 3.8pc to $740m (£564m), while pre-tax profits were up 25.9pc on the previous year at $75.8m. The performances from its clothing arm and the division that supplies industrial thread were particularly strong. Coats supplies threads, zips and trims to...

August 1, 2017
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01Aug

UK. Aeolus gains £51m investment from London Pensions Fund Authority

UK local authority pension fund manager the London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA) made an investment of around £51 million in two of the reinsurance linked investment funds managed by Bermuda-based specialist Aeolus Capital Management Ltd. The investment was made in the calendar year ending March 31st 2017, according to the latest information from the £5.3 billion London Pensions Fund Authority. UK pension funds are increasingly becoming comfortable with the ILS and reinsurance linked asset class, with a growing number of authority...

August 1, 2017
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July 2017

28Jul

UK’s Pensions regulator fines for the first time ever a public service scheme

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) slapped the London Borough of Barnet with a £1,000 penalty for failing to submit its 2016 scheme return. TPR has been vocal in recent months over plans to get tough on pension scheme failings. It has promised to "intervene" where companies are treating schemes unfairly. Meanwhile, the government is consulting on plans to give TPR proactive, rather than reactive, powers to step in to prevent BHS-style corporate failings following large pension shortfalls. TPR issued Barnet council with a...

July 28, 2017
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27Jul

Pension crisis looms for UK women

That is according to new research by financial services firm Drewberry, which also shows that 75% of UK women have under £50,000 in their pension, compared with 57% of their male counterparts. In addition, it was found that 24% of all female workers in the UK earn less than £11,000 – almost three times the number of men – while 66% take home under 25,000, compared with 42% of males. This comes after the BBC was criticised last week when a...

July 27, 2017
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26Jul

UK. We see no reason why the State Pension Age should go beyond 66

The House of Commons has just risen for its summer recess, and it’s safe to say that MPs have a lot to reflect on over the next few weeks after a pretty eventful year. While a lot of the focus has rightly been on Brexit, given it has such huge implications for all of us, there is an important job to do in holding the Tories to account on the day-to-day business of government. One of the last announcements the Tory...

July 26, 2017
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26Jul

UK. NOW: Pensions exits regulator ‘assurance’ list after admin bungle in processing savers’ money

Workplace pensions provider NOW: Pensions has left a voluntary 'assurance' scheme operated by industry watchdogs after they raised concerns about the firm's administration and governance. But The Pensions Regulator stressed there was no suggestion savers' money was at risk, or that employers using NOW's services were not complying with duties to workers auto-enrolled into pension schemes. NOW admitted it was trying to sort out delays processing contributions from savers - an issue recently highlighted by This is Money after a reader's...

July 26, 2017
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