October 2024
22Oct

$1.5 Trillion U.K. Pension Fund Eyes Entry into Crypto Tokenization

Legal & General (L&G), a major UK-based pension and investment management firm, is considering entering the blockchain tokenization market. With $1.5 trillion in assets under management, the company is considering how it can package its Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) liquidity funds in a tokenized manner. Tokenization is the process of transforming tangible assets such as property, natural resources such as oil and gas and even paintings into digital tokens. This makes it possible for the average investor to own...

October 22, 2024
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21Oct

UK. DWP to give £812 to some benefit claimants

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is providing a new loan scheme that offers people on benefits an additional £812 boost. This measure, launched by the government department, is designed to further support benefit claimants throughout this year. According to the DWP, recipients of the loan are not required to pay back the sum immediately. The Department has stated, "A Budgeting Loan is interest-free so you only pay back what you borrow. The repayments will be taken automatically from...

October 21, 2024
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18Oct

UK. Tax-free withdrawals from pension pots surge amid fears over autumn budget

Savers have started to withdraw cash from their pension pots amid fears over potential tax changes at the autumn budget, according to investment companies. The investment platform AJ Bell said reports that the chancellor, Rachel Reeeves, was likely to increase taxes at the budget on 30 October had spooked some of its customers into new retirement savings decisions. The wealth management firm Quilter, which manages more than £113bn of customers’ money, also said it had experienced a surge in calls from...

October 18, 2024
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17Oct

UK government faces “extra GBP100 million bill” for state pension rise

The UK government is facing an extra GBP100 million bill for next year's state pension increases following revised official figures published on Tuesday, according to a former pensions minister. Under the triple lock guarantee, the state pension increases every April in line with whichever is the highest of earnings growth in the year from May to July of the previous year, CPI (Consumer Prices Index) inflation in September of the previous year, or 2.5%. With inflation running at more subdued levels,...

October 17, 2024
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15Oct

UK. Govt launches National Wealth Fund to drive pension fund investment

The government has officially launched the National Wealth Fund and announced reforms to other public institutions to encourage additional pension fund investment into high-growth UK companies. The UK Infrastructure Bank is to be overhauled and rebranded as the National Wealth Fund. The announcement was made by chancellor Rachel Reeves at the government’s International Investment Summit in London yesterday (14 October). The fund is to receive £27.8bn and an expanded investment remit to support the government’s new industrial strategy, also announced yesterday. Its remit...

October 15, 2024
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15Oct

UK. PASA launches pensions dashboards toolkit

PASA today published the first content in its new ‘Dashboards Toolkit’. The Toolkit will be updated over time and the first releases include: A questionnaire for trustees to issue to their AVC providers in advance of connecting their scheme AVCs to dashboards A checklist and suggested list of activities for administrators to connect to and maintain AVC data A list of AVC providers and their connection methods Geraldine Brassett, Chair of the PASA Dashboards Scheme Configuration sub-group, commented: “PASA has...

October 15, 2024
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14Oct

Biggest US public pension fund Calpers invests in UK’s Octopus Energy

The largest public pension scheme in the US has invested in Octopus Energy, highlighting international interest in the fast-growing UK power company. Calpers, which oversees the pensions of public workers in California and has about $500bn of assets under management, invested in the private company this year as part of a push into climate-related assets, Calpers confirmed in response to a query from the Financial Times. It made its investment in May alongside Australian pension fund Aware Super. Together the two...

October 14, 2024
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11Oct

UK. Why even at 20 you should care about pension changes

There is growing speculation that the way pensions are taxed could be changed in the Budget. Chancellor Rachel Reeves says she needs to find £22bn and some experts say she could change the system on workplace or private pensions to find some of this money. This is separate from another debate about the state pension. There are a number of options which could affect workers getting their first job, those already working, all the way up to those in retirement. This...

October 11, 2024
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10Oct

UK. People have less than six months to make a vital pension change

People have less than six months left to fill gaps in their national insurance (NI) record from 2006 to maximise their state pension. More than 10,000 payments worth £12.5 million have already been made through a new digital service to boost people’s state pensions since it launched in April, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has revealed. The service lets people check for gaps in their NI record, calculate if making a payment would increase their state pension, and then make...

October 10, 2024
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10Oct

Pension funds biggest investors in UK’s £10bn social impact investment market

Pension funds are the largest investors in the UK’s social impact investment market, according to the latest annual market sizing report from Better Society Capital (BSC). The report reveals that the sector grew to £10bn (€11.9bn) last year, marking a 7% increase compared to 2022. In 2023, investment by pension funds represented 21% of the country’s total social impact investment market, with most of their funds being directed towards social and affordable housing, according to BSC. Endowments and charities were the second biggest...

October 10, 2024
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