July 2017

12Jul

UK financial watchdog concerned about what people are doing with their pension savings

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has flagged concerns about the way in which people are using their pensions since the introduction of landmark rules around retirement savings in 2015. The FCA on Wednesday said that it had identified several issues, particularly relating to advice and competition. A more extensive report is due next year. Under rules introduced in 2015, savers are able to access their retirement savings without having to buy an annuity, or income for life. The FCA said that...

July 12, 2017
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11Jul

UK’s BMW Workers Accept New Pensions Deal, Ending Dispute

British workers at BMW's Mini and Rolls-Royce operations have overwhelmingly accepted a new offer from the German carmaker on Monday over the closure of its final salary pension scheme, ending a disagreement which had led to strikes. Over 80 percent of members at four sites, including BMW's Mini plant and Rolls-Royce facility in southern England and engine production site, accepted the new deal which will close the final salary scheme, Britain's biggest union Unite said. Members were offered greater flexibility regarding...

July 11, 2017
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10Jul

UK. Third of DB pension schemes could fail to pay members

It reveals that just one in five schemes have a high chance of being able to deliver on agreements in full, while the same amount have a 66% chance of failing. In addition, it was found that the typical scheme has already extended recovery plans beyond the average period of eight years, suffering a significantly higher risk of failure as a result. “Since the introduction of the Pension Protection Fund in 2005, more than 10% of DB schemes have failed to...

July 10, 2017
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07Jul

UK. Anti-smoking council has £85m invested in tobacco companies

Millions of pounds is invested in tobacco companies by the councils responsible for public health, the Post can reveal. The pension fund, which is administered by Nottinghamshire County Council and used by several other organisations throughout the county, has £85,728,471 currently invested in tobacco companies. It has £18,270,051 worth of shares in Imperial Tobacco, £57,062,838 in British American Tobacco, £4,731,484 in Philip Morris, £1,671,729 in Japan Tobacco and £3,992,369 in Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris according to the latest...

July 7, 2017
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06Jul

UK. Thousands of savers to unlock smallest pensions without paying fees

Thousands of pensioners with the smallest pots will no longer have to pay for advice to transfer out of their scheme, the Government has announced. New rules which will be laid out in Parliament today will exempt thousands of people from rip-off advice fees which can reach more than £1,000. Savers with "guaranteed annuity rate" pensions worth less than £30,000 will be given a simple valuation of their pension and will be able to transfer out without receiving advice. Around 1.5m savers...

July 6, 2017
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06Jul

UK’s Ageing population ‘as big an issue as climate change’

The UK’s ageing population is ‘as big an issue as climate change’ according to John Cridland. Former CBI director general Cridland was appointed to review the state pension age (SPA) by the government. He published his report earlier this year. It made a number of recommendations to help the UK deal with the UK's growing pensioner population, including increasing the SPA to 68 quicker than planned. Speaking at an insurance industry conference, Cridland warned more needed to be done to address problems...

July 6, 2017
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04Jul

UK. 1 million to opt out of pension in 2019

A million people will choose to miss out on crucial retirement saving in 2019, Government figures predict. This is despite the fact that auto-enrolment will be fully in place by then, at least for all employees that meet the current criteria. We've taken a closer look. The figure is based on the current percentage of members who have opted out of their workplace pension schemes, which is 10%. This is estimated to increase to 21.7% in 2018 and 27.5% in...

July 4, 2017
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03Jul

UK pension consultants prepare for era of no-nonsense

They kept a low profile as banks and other pillars of the finacial services industry were upbraided by regulators. Now the consultants who influence how trillions of pounds of pensions are invested are finally under pressure. Any hopes the industry had of avoiding a full-scale antitrust probe were dashed last week by the City watchdog. Dominated by three big players - Mercer, Aon Hewitt and Willis Towers Watson - consultants had avoided the gaze of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), despite...

July 3, 2017
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June 2017

29Jun

Regulation, red tape, sometimes necessary as Grenfell and BHS prove in different ways

How often have you heard politicians, especially low-rent Conservative politicians, banging on about red tape? If we just took up our scissors and cut through the lot of it then the British economy would surge off into the stratosphere, leaving those of our (former) EU friends in the dust! We'd be richer and happier as a foggy Asian tiger! Now, if we could just get the flights over there sorted out. Better get Boris Island built in the Thames estuary. With...

June 29, 2017
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28Jun

UK. 38% believe workplace pensions are the safest way to save for retirement

More than a third (38%) of respondents aged under 40 years old or aged 40 and over who have not yet retired believe that a workplace pension scheme is the safest way to save for retirement in the period July 2016-December 2016, according to research by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Its Early indicator estimates from the wealth and assets survey also found that 68% of respondents who have not yet retired cite an occupational or personal pension as...

June 28, 2017
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