March 2018

05Mar

Disclosure of costs, charges and investments in DC occupational pensions

UK Department for Work and Pensions This paper forms the Government’s response to a consultation on the draft Occupational Pension Schemes (Administration and Disclosure) (Amendment) Regulations 2018, which ran from the 26 October 2017 to 7 December 2017. The draft Regulations were designed to: introduce requirements for certain occupational schemes offering money purchase benefits to publish charge and transaction cost information, disclose this to members and others, and tell members where to find it; and introduce requirements for the same...

March 5, 2018
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05Mar

Growing Pension Deficits and the Expenditure Decisions of UK Companies

By Philip Bunn (Bank of England), Paul Mizen (University of Nottingham; Bank of England; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)) & Pawel Smietanka (Bank of England) Large deficits have opened up on defined benefit pension schemes in the United Kingdom since 2007, and at the same time investment expenditure has been subdued; this is a common phenomenon in other countries too. We use privileged access to a unique new data set from The Pensions Regulator and two identification schemes to...

March 5, 2018
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February 2018

28Feb

UK. Generational battle lines harden over pensions

If the personal finances of every household could be ranked, the period following the 2008 financial crisis puts the baby boomer on top. There is a counterpoint to this, say campaigners for older savers, which is the level of interest rates over the period. Surely a decade of ultra-low rates favours borrowers and most of them are young. Likewise, final salary pension schemes, dominated as they are by the older generation, have struggled to bring down their deficits as low...

February 28, 2018
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20Feb

UK. Britain’s pensions regulator ignored trustee requests on Carillion: lawmakers

Britain’s pensions regulator twice ignored requests from trustees of collapsed outsourcing firm Carillion (CLLN.L) to force the company to plug its pension deficit, lawmakers said on Tuesday. The Pensions Regulator has come under fire for taking insufficient steps to protect pension scheme members of troubled companies, following the collapse of department store chain BHS in 2016. Carillion collapsed on Jan. 15, with only 29 million pounds ($41 million) of cash left. It had pension liabilities of around 2.5 billion pounds, two...

February 20, 2018
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20Feb

UK. What Were the Outcomes of the Work and Pensions Committee Report?

“The outcome of the report comes as no real surprise. It concluded that the process for members to decide whether to move to the new British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS2) was hurried and the communication far too complex with not enough bespoke information. These factors contributed to many members transferring out of the scheme to a defined contribution arrangement, which was not in their best interest. “Nearly all members would be better off moving to the BSPS2, but as formal...

February 20, 2018
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13Feb

UK. Starling’s marketplace banking rollout adds pensions, savings, travel insurance and mortgages

Starling, the U.K. challenger bank that offers a mobile-only current account, continues to execute on its marketplace banking strategy. Following the required regulatory approval, the Starling Marketplace is adding a number of financial services integrations, spanning pensions, savings, travel insurance and mortgage brokerage. Specifically, Starling is partnering with PensionBee, Wealthsimple, Kasko, and Habito, respectively. It says it’s targeting 25 partnerships in total in 2018. The challenger bank has already added Flux to its in-app marketplace to offer item-level receipts and...

February 13, 2018
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09Feb

Protected rights: urgent action required by UK pension scheme trustees

Between 6 April 1988 and 5 April 2012, it was possible for schemes to contract out of the earnings-related element of the state pension by providing “protected rights” which were a form of DC benefit. Certain contributions had to be paid into a member’s DC “protected rights” account, and the pot of money that resulted had to be used in particular ways laid down in legislation on the member’s retirement or death. This form of contracting-out was designed for DC...

February 9, 2018
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January 2018

29Jan

UK. Carillion ‘fell short on pensions for a decade’

Bosses at Carillion are set for a heated showdown with MPs after the Commons work and pensions committee accused the failed outsourcer of attempting to “wriggle out” of its pension obligations for the past decade. The committee released details of the way the company’s pension deficit and its cash problems were handled over several years. This week MPs will be questioning former Carillion executives and regulators as part of a joint inquiry into the company’s collapse with the business, energy...

January 29, 2018
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22Jan

British PM May says will stop companies abusing pension schemes

British Prime Minister Theresa May said she would clamp down on bosses who try to “line their own pockets” while not protecting workers’ pensions, after the collapse of outsourcer Carillion with a 900-million-pound hole in its pension scheme. Writing in Sunday’s Observer newspaper, the Prime Minister said private companies could help deliver better public services, but the system needed to be rebalanced in favor of ordinary working people. “In the spring, we will set out tough new rules for executives who...

January 22, 2018
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22Jan

UK. Universities face disruption as union calls strike over pensions row

Universities across the UK are to face major disruption after workers voted to go on strike in a row over pensions. Of the 58% of University and College Union members who voted, 88% were in favour of strike action, with 93% approving of some other form of industrial action as talks with Universities UK over changes to the existing pensions scheme failed to deliver a solution. Universities UK (UUK) - the representative organisation for the country's universities - wants to change...

January 22, 2018
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