December 2024
13Dec

UK. DC retirement expectations fall for young savers amid ‘flat’ investment returns

The expected future living standard in retirement provided by defined contribution (DC) savings fell for young savers in Q3, following "flat" investment returns, Aon’s UK DC pension tracker has revealed. The youngest saver’s expected income in retirement decreased by around £170 p.a. (0.5 per cent), driven by the increase in expected inflation and a decrease in the expected future investment return assumptions post-retirement. An increase in future expected return assumptions before retirement partially offset these decreases. However, older savers’ expected retirement...

December 13, 2024
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12Dec

How climate change will impact pension fund investment portfolios

Failure to transition to a low-carbon economy could cost pension schemes up to 30% in investment losses by 2050, according to new research. Analytics and risk management firm Ortec Finance analysed the investment portfolios of 30 large UK pension schemes based on exposure to climate change risks. It modelled seven different scenarios for the global transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy sources, and found that real estate and listed equities were the most vulnerable asset classes if any...

December 12, 2024
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12Dec

Just 19% of UK savers have factored getting a serious illness in to their retirement plan

Just a fifth of UK savers (19%) have fully considered getting a serious illness in their retirement plan, according to research by consultancy Barnett Waddingham. Its At retirement reckoning report, which surveyed more than 5,000 UK employees, also found that 25% of respondents under the age of 50 have prepared for this possibility, compared to just 16% of those aged over 50. Two-fifths (43%) of this older age group have thought about it but not included it in their retirement planning, and 32%...

December 12, 2024
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10Dec

UK pensions are £283bn worse off than we thought. Time to panic?

The Pension Protection Fund’s annual Purple Book is almost universally regarded as the authoritative “state of the nation” guide to the UK’s private sector defined benefit schemes — their assets, liabilities, sizes, number and asset allocations. And given that this class of fund commands close to one and a half trillion pounds of assets, their actions are of wide interest. The headline from last year’s almanac was that these DB schemes — in aggregate — could afford to ‘buy-out’. That...

December 10, 2024
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09Dec

How widening inequalities signal a warning for the UK pension system

The government has made a commitment to “tackle all the inequalities that pervade our society” in “a fairer Britain, where everyone lives well for longer”. But what does inequality mean for pensions and, ultimately, for living standards in later life? That’s the question that underpins a report we published last month. For many people, income inequality is the first thing that comes to mind when we talk about inequality in the UK, and for good reason. The UK has had higher income inequality...

December 9, 2024
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06Dec

UK. Pension issues for 2025

Commenting on what is top of his Christmas pension wish list and the year ahead, Paul Waters, Head of DC Markets, Hymans Robertson, says: “Top of my wish list for 2025 is that stage two of the Government’s Pensions Review will deliver a coherent long-term plan for addressing UK retirement savings adequacy. Ideally, this will include future state pension provision and will work for all members of society. Collective DC will feature prominently in 2025 and we are optimistic about...

December 6, 2024
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05Dec

Pensions reform could unlock the UK economy

Make no mistake. Rachel Reeves’ maiden Budget was an assault on working people. The chancellor may not have directly hit people’s pay packets with an increase in income tax, national insurance or VAT, but families will see their living standards rise more slowly as a result. Businesses – the lifeblood of our economy – will invest less and charge consumers more. I’ll leave it there – for now. Enough has already been written about the Budget’s flaws and even though...

December 5, 2024
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04Dec

UK. The case for pension scheme investment in Bitcoin

In this article, Sam Roberts, the director of investment consulting at the scheme's adviser, Cartwright, explains why he believes Bitcoin has now evolved from a niche digital asset into a mainstream investment opportunity… Remember what they said about the following … Facebook...? It will never take off... a passing trend… no long-term growth. The reality was it became one of the largest social media platforms worldwide, a multibillion-dollar company, and paved the way for social media as we know it. ...

December 4, 2024
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02Dec

UK. DWP exact amount pensioners can have in savings before losing benefits

Some Department for Work and Pension benefits come with a list of eligibility criteria they have to meet, sometimes including having less than a certain amount in savings. This includes Universal Credit, Tax Credits, Council Tax Support, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support and Housing Benefit. These are dubbed means-tested benefits and their savings requirements extend past the state pension age for Pension Credit, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support. Each of these benefits have their...

December 2, 2024
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November 2024
29Nov

UK. Retirement planning tops financial advice demand but not a priority until age 55

Planning to achieve a comfortable retirement tops clients’ financial advice ‘wish lists’ over the next six months, but the peak age for it being an advice priority is not reached until the age of 55, according to research from St. James’s Place (SJP). Its study showed that the top three advice priorities in the UK were retirement planning advice, general investment and savings advice, and better budgeting. However, SJP found there was a “large generational divide” as cost of living and...

November 29, 2024
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