May 2024
10May

UK government’s Pensions Dashboards Programme delayed

The UK government’s high-profile Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) is behind schedule due to ineffective governance and a lack of people with the right skills and experience, a National Audit Office (NAO) report has revealed. This has contributed to pushing the date for the new platform to be connected to providers to October 31, 2026, a year later than planned. Costs have also risen from £235 million ($295 million) in 2020 to £289 million in 2023, an increase of 23%. The Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP)...

May 10, 2024
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09May

Two in five current UK retirees have ‘retirement regrets’

Two in five (40 per cent) current UK retirees would have done something differently in how they approached their retirement, research from Canada Life has found. The research revealed that almost one in five (17 per cent) retirees would have increased pension savings while working, whilst just over one in 10 (12 per cent) would have made lifestyle adjustments while working to save more for their retirement. Furthermore, the firm found that nearly one in 10 (8 per cent) current retirees...

May 9, 2024
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08May

UK. The 2024 Pension Tax Changes: Five Things To Know And Three Things To Do

We have had a new pension tax regime since April 6, 2024. The underlying legislation is convoluted and almost impossible for a lay person to follow, so you would be forgiven for thinking there was a lot to study. At the very granular level that is true, and your scheme administrators will have a lot of detailed changes to make to systems. However if you zoom out a bit, in many ways life hasn't changed. We've done the poring over...

May 8, 2024
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07May

UK. DB and DC Participant Access Update

Private industry workers have a roughly 67% chance of having access to a defined contribution retirement plan and a 15% chance of being offered a defined benefit option, according to the most recent estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Of those workers with DB access, 11% are taking advantage of the benefit, according to the government department. In the DC space, 49% of workers are reportedly saving into the plans. The data, which was released April 19, is drawn from...

May 7, 2024
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06May

UK. Retirement warning as global ‘market volatility’ could hurt ‘value of pensions’

Older Britons are being warned that recent global events could be impacting the “value of some pensions”. Experts from PensionBee are urging pensioners to take action to make sure their retirement savings are protected. This warning comes amid the widespread implementation of artificial intelligence technology, the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and upcoming elections in the US and UK. As well as this, those approaching retirement have been saddled with rising interest rates and inflation-hiked prices. A consequence of this has been that many older Britons are not able...

May 6, 2024
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03May

UK. Average overall pension transfer times fall by 12.2%

The average time taken for a pension transfer to be completed reduced by 12.2% over the last 15 months, research from Origo has shown. The latest data from the fintech's Transfer Index showed from January 2023 to the end of March this year, the average time for the completion of a transfer fell from 14 to 12.3 calendar days. In addition, the time taken for simple transfers, where the provider has full control over the process, also improved by 16.7%...

May 3, 2024
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02May

UK. Seeing the wood for the trees: reinjecting meaning into sustainability reporting

IGG’s Tegs Harding takes a holistic view of sustainability reporting, incorporating nature-based and social factors as well as established climate issues. Step by step, we are seeing more people realise the power pensions have to play an integral role in securing a more sustainable future. Trustees are central to this by meeting their fiduciary duties towards members, including reporting and administrative requirements. Trustees of defined contribution (DC) schemes are responsible for ensuring their members get the best retirement outcome they can, which...

May 2, 2024
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April 2024
30Apr

UK. People’s Pension ramps up ESG expectations of asset managers

The People's Pension, Crawley, England, is expecting more from its asset managers when it comes to responsible investment. The £26 billion ($32 billion) multiemployer defined contribution plan said in an April 29 statement on its new responsible investment policy that at a minimum, fund managers are expected to have a commitment to net zero and adequate resources committed to stewardship. Failing to do so could trigger a review and possible transfer of assets to other managers, the U.K. master trust...

April 30, 2024
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30Apr

UK. ‘Shocking’ tech leaves pensions industry in precarious position

The pensions industry has built up a ‘technical debt’ that must be addressed if it is to engage and educate savers, experts have warned. Delegates at the Pensions Administration Standards Association (Pasa) conference in the City of London were told pensions technology was at least “10 years behind” other industries. Paul Sturgess, director of Pasa said: “I fear that the time frame [for keeping up with available technology in other industries] has got bigger than the heady days of 2000.” Paul Leandro,...

April 30, 2024
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29Apr

UK’s opposition Labour Party commits to triple-lock pension policy

Britain’s opposition Labour Party has committed to keeping for at least five years the so-called triple lock that guarantees rises to state pensions, if it wins the election, underscoring the importance of pensioners to the outcome of the vote. Labour have held an around 20-point lead in opinion polls over Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party for the last nine months, but the one area where they tend to struggle is with voters over 65 years old. Labour leader Keir Starmer...

April 29, 2024
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