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...
22Aug

UK. Ex-BHS owner Dominic Chappell prosecuted by pensions regulator

Dominic Chappell, the former owner of BHS, is to be prosecuted by the pensions watchdog for failing to provide information for an investigation into its sale. Chappell headed Retail Acquisitions, the company that acquired BHS for £1 from Sir Philip Green in 2015. A year later, it collapsed with the loss of 11,000 jobs and a pension deficit of as much as £571m. The Pensions Regulator is prosecuting Chappell for failing to comply with three notices for information issued under Section...

August 22, 2017
News, Slider
Read more...
22Aug

UK government announces measures to tackle pension cold-calling

It is hoped that this “two-pronged” attack on scammers will not only put a hurdle in the way in which fraudsters contact would be retirees, but will also limit their options in getting access to savings. Former pensions minister, Baroness Ros Altmann, said: “The government has bowed to the overwhelming pressure from politicians, consumer groups and the pensions industry to urgently introduce a ban on pensions cold-calling. “This is great news. It is also going to toughen rules on transfers out...

August 22, 2017
News, Slider
Read more...
15Aug

UK. Pension rights after a TUPE transfer

The legislation governing transfers of employment originally attempted to exclude pension rights from the scope of a transfer under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE). Regulation 10 of TUPE states that the general employment protection provided on a TUPE transfer does not apply to “so much of a contract of employment or a collective agreement as relates to an occupational pension scheme”. The regulation states that rights that do not relate to “old age, invalidity...

August 15, 2017
News, Slider
Read more...
15Aug

UK. Home Industry Life Lloyds Bank… Lloyds Bank may expand into pensions and wealth management

UK high street bank Lloyds, which owns Scottish Widows, may be about to announce a major push into pension and investment products as part of a three-year growth plan. The Financial Times reported over the weekend that the bank was looking to capitalise on its position as Britain’s only integrated high street bancassurer, which allows it to provide wealth and retirement services to its retail customer base. Mario Mazzocchi, a pensions and investment director at Lloyds’ Scottish Widows business, told the...

August 15, 2017
News, Slider
Read more...
14Aug

UK. Eye on the fees: State pension funds are getting better management

It’s a start. Keep going. That was the message that state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale and state Treasurer Joe Torsella last week gave to the State Employees’ Retirement System, which operates the pension fund for retired state workers. While SERS’ efforts to spend less money on managers has borne fruit — it shelled out $167 million last year, compared to $345 million in 2007 — Mr. DePasquale issued an audit urging the system to cut some more. Mr. Torsella issued a...

August 14, 2017
News, Slider
Read more...