September 2017

28Sep

UK. Consultants back ESG initiative for pension schemes

The UK pensions regulator’s guidance that pension schemes take into account environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors where they are financially material received a boost from investment consultants. Twelve investment consultant firms have agreed to ensure clients are made aware of The Pensions Regulator’s (TPR) guidance. The firms are Allenbridge, Aon Hewitt, Barnett Waddingham, bfinance, Cardano, Hymans Robertson, JLT Employee Benefits, Lane Clark & Peacock LLP, Mercer, Quantum Advisory, Redington and Willis Towers Watson. In a joint statement they said:“We believe...

September 28, 2017
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27Sep

Soaring EU pensions could add £10bn to Brexit bill, accounts reveal

Britain is under pressure to add £10 billion to its Brexit bill to cover the soaring pensions of retired EU civil servants, new accounts have revealed. European Union figures published this week show that the cost of pensions liabilities rose by 5.4 per cent last year to a total of £59bn (€67bn). The overall budget liabilities the UK is expected to pay a share of -  as part of the financial settlement - has also risen from €226bn to €234bn. Earlier this week...

September 27, 2017
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25Sep

UK. Labour to offer some women earlier retirement option

Government changes to the retirement age have been "chaotic", shadow work and pensions secretary Debbie Abrahams will tell Labour's conference later. Many women who expected to retire at 60 must now work several years longer before receiving a state pension. Ms Abrahams will say her plan would mean pension security for thousands. Her change would benefit women born between 1954 and 1960. "This will ensure that those who have suffered the consequences of this government's chaotic mismanagement of the state pension...

September 25, 2017
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21Sep

UK watchdog to investigate conflicts of interest among pension fund advisers

Britain's competitions watchdog will look into the advice given by consultants to pension schemes and other institutions managing over 1.6 trillion pounds ($2.2 trillion) of funds, to see if there are conflicts of interest, it said on Thursday. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will assess whether investment consultants offer a poor level of service and whether difficulties comparing and switching consultants provide little incentive for them to compete for customers. In addition, it will investigate if there are barriers to...

September 21, 2017
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18Sep

UK. Expats face post-Brexit pension ‘cliff edge’ warns influential MP

The chair of the influential Treasury committee has called for urgent action to address the risk pension payments to expatriates from UK insurers may be blocked after Brexit. Nicky Morgan (pictured), chair of the influential committee of MPs, has written to the chancellor, to draw attention to the issue and ask if it would be addressed in the upcoming round of talks between the UK and EU, the Guardian reports. The problem centres around passporting rights, which allow UK and...

September 18, 2017
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14Sep

UK’s pension investment advisers to face full competition probe

Britain’s competition regulator has launched an investigation into investment consultants following concerns about conflicts of interest in an industry advising on the management of over 1.6 trillion pounds ($2 trillion) of pension and other funds. The Financial Conduct Authority said on Thursday it has referred its concerns to the Competition and Markets Authority for a full investigation, the first time it has referred a case to the CMA as part of a broader effort to improve value for money and...

September 14, 2017
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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
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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
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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
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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
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