April 2017

03Apr

UK. Pension schemes are a ‘material risk’ to FTSE 250

A significant number of British businesses are sitting on pension schemes that could represent a "material risk" to their business, a retirement consultancy has warned. An analysis of FTSE 250 accounts has found that 23 businesses - including the AA, Thomas Cook and Balfour Beatty - would have to withhold payments to shareholders for over two years if they needed to clear their pension shortfalls, compared to just seven in the FTSE 100. The study by JLT Employment Benefits also found...

April 3, 2017
News
Read more...
03Apr

UK. Pensions hole deepens at Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia

The pension deficit at Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group soared to £565m last year as BHS was dragged to its knees by its own shortfall, according to new documents released last night by MPs. The retail billionaire had said he would double his annual contribution into Arcadia’s pension fund to £50m. However, at that time it was believed the deficit was only £200m. Now new papers, dated after the company’s triennial valuation, show the full severity of the issue. They also...

April 3, 2017
News
Read more...

March 2017

31Mar

UK. Insurers call for pension dashboard regulation as tech set to launch

Insurers have called on the government to start legislating for a pensions dashboard, as they prepare to launch the first working prototype next month. In last year's Budget the Treasury set out expectations for the pensions industry to build a dashboard to allow people to see where all their retirement savings are by 2019. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has taken responsibility for organising the project. Currently 17 providers have signed up to help develop the dashboard. Technology for the dashboard...

March 31, 2017
News
Read more...
30Mar

UK. Slowdown in life expectancy could ease pension deficit pressure by £28b

The latest projections from the Continuous Mortality Investigation (CMI) would reduce life expectancies at 65 by around 1.3% for males and 2% for females, compared to the previous version of the model. According to Mercer's Pension Risk Report, at 30 December 2016 the pension liabilities for FTSE 350 employers were £857 billion so, in total and to the extent the experience underlying the new model has not already been allowed for, the adjustment could remove around £28 billion of...

March 30, 2017
News
Read more...
24Mar

Former director of CBI: UK state pension age should hit 68 seven years earlier than planned

John Cridland’s report, which will frame government policy on the state pension, has said state pension age (SPA) increases should be accelerated and should rise from 67 to 68 between 2037 and 2039. Last year the government commissioned Cridland, former director general of the Confederation of British Industry, to review the SPA, looking at the financial sustainability of the system, the issues that drive SPA rises and life expectancy. Under current legislation, from December 2018, the SPA for men and women...

March 24, 2017
News
Read more...
23Mar

State pension age could be raised to 70 in the UK, says report.

An analysis for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has suggested that workers under the age of 30 may not get a pension until the age of 70. A second report, by John Cridland, proposes that those under the age of 45 may have to work a year longer, to 68. The government is due to make a decision on both reports by May. Ministers are under pressure to address the expected rise in the cost of pensions, which stems from...

March 23, 2017
News
Read more...
23Mar

Compliance and regulatory concerns over pension complaints in UK

One in three HR executives have seen a rise in pension complaints Compliance and regulatory concerns worry 35% of HR departments moneygym aims to increase employee engagement with retirement and wider financial planning They are facing a combination of increased complaints about pension fund performance as well as increased interest from staff about pension schemes. Portus’s study found one in three HR departments have seen an increase in complaints in the past two years while 28% report increased inquiries from employees. The rise...

March 23, 2017
News
Read more...
22Mar

UK. Pension raid on middle-class savers is off the cards

The Treasury has ruled out the biggest pension tax raid in nearly a century after the Treasury has privately admitted that "now is not the right time". The Telegraph can reveal the department has privately reassured businesses in correspondence sent out this month that a proposed raid on wealthy pension savers will not take place for the foreseeable future. It comes just weeks before Theresa May is due to trigger Article 50 which will begin the process of Britain leaving the...

March 22, 2017
News
Read more...
22Mar

UK. IFoA calls for adequacy to be ‘at the heart’ of auto-enrolment review

This could be achieved by pushing employers to reward saving over the minimum contribution rate in some way, and by introducing a method of auto-escalation, according to the institute. In addition, it recommends that the DWP consider removing the earnings trigger for when maximum contributions are payable, in order to strike a balance between the ability for those on lower incomes to save, and the risk of them losing out on tax relief and employer contributions. IFoA president, Colin Wilson, said:...

March 22, 2017
News
Read more...
22Mar

UK. Nearly one in seven workers retiring this year have made no financial provisions, study reveals

Nearly one in seven people retiring this year have made no financial provision for their retirement, and more than one in ten will be either totally or partially dependent on the state pension when they stop working, according to new research. The analysis, published by life insurance company Prudential on Wednesday, shows that thousands will enter into retirement this year with an income that is up to £1,400 a year below the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s minimum income standard for a...

March 22, 2017
News
Read more...