June 2023
02Jun

Aegon UK to invest £500m in climate solutions by 2026 in net zero push

Aegon UK has launched a climate action roadmap geared towards achieving net zero emissions by 2050, warning the time for "bold climate action" is now. Announced yesterday, the insurance, pensions and asset management firm's net zero target covers its core business as well as financed emissions for its workplace default pension funds. Aegon UK also promised to take "concrete short-term steps" to slash its emissions in half by 2030, which it said would "support making customers' investments more resilient to shocks". Crucially,...

June 2, 2023
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May 2023
31May

UK. Derisking well funded DB schemes may be an opportunity missed

Funding is reaching record levels and DB schemes are now in a position of strength. Current regulations compel schemes to target ultra low investment returns, but taking risk and therefore return out of DB pension investments may be going too far, representing a ‘missed opportunity’ to better invest £1.5 trillion of UK DB pension scheme assets. Steve Hodder, partner at LCP, said: “For 20-plus years, regulatory focus has been on ‘slowing down’ DB schemes through reducing investment risk. This was...

May 31, 2023
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30May

Industry Voice: Improving value in workplace DC pension schemes

A key component in value is offering properly diversified investments. If you compare the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) and workplace DC schemes, both are funded UK occupational pension schemes with high numbers of active members but there is noticeable difference between their invested assets. Look at the range of funds offered by an LGPS pool such as Border to Coast and you will find both passive and active equity funds, corporate credit as well as a range of alternatives such...

May 30, 2023
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29May

The problem with UK government pressure on pension funds to diversify

UK politicians are urging the country’s pension funds to invest less in UK government bonds (Gilts) and more in riskier and complex assets including young UK companies, and infrastructure. Railpen’s John Greaves, head of investment strategy and research explains the various problems with the plan. The asset mix of closed defined benefit (DB) pension funds in the UK has been moving more into low risk assets like Gilts in recent decades as these schemes have matured. The sudden rise in government...

May 29, 2023
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29May

UK. Create pension superfunds to save the economy, says Tony Blair Institute

Thousands of UK retirement schemes should be merged into just half a dozen £400bn superfunds to turbocharge investment in businesses and infrastructure, Sir Tony Blair’s think tank has said. In a paper today, the Tony Blair Institute backs proposals circulating in Whitehall to turn the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) – a lifeboat scheme for the pension funds of companies which go bust – into the first of a new generation of “global scale” schemes that are better-equipped to invest in...

May 29, 2023
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26May

UK. Govt urged to announce new pensions dashboards timeline

The government and pensions authorities have been urged to announce a new pensions dashboards timeline after the mandatory deadline was extended. In March, the pensions minister Laura Trott extended the 31 August 2023 deadline due to technicalities. Trott said additional time was needed to deliver the technical solution to enable the connection of pension providers and schemes. However, pensions experts want to see a new timeline announced sooner to get firms participating in the dashboards programme better prepared. “It’s imperative that the regulator...

May 26, 2023
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25May

Changing pensions regulations will not boost UK business investment Expert

Often in politics, a bad idea turns up when its time has finally come. The current contender in the UK is the belief that a few tweaks to pension rules will flood dynamic companies with much-needed funds, save the troubled stock market, improve returns for future pensioners and resolve the longstanding weakness in business investment. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said in his March Budget that his plans, to be announced in the autumn, will “unlock productive investment from defined contribution pension...

May 25, 2023
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24May

UK. Savers miss out on £70,000 at poorly performing pension funds

Thousands of poorly-performing pension funds have been placed on notice by regulators as analysis reveals that savers are missing out on nearly £70,000 in lost investment returns. Nausicaa Delfas, the new boss of The Pensions Regulator (TPR), vowed on Tuesday to go after the trustees of struggling funds that are letting down their members. The Telegraph can separately disclose that average savers are missing out on tens of thousands of pounds in lost investment returns at conservative British pension funds, after...

May 24, 2023
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22May

UK. Treasury to bear risk of unfunded legacy public sector schemes

A policy paper published on 15 May states that the cost control mechanism (CCM) for new public sector schemes will exclude those legacy schemes closed to new members. Following a review by the government actuary and a series of consultations, the government will now bear “full risk” of costs related to unfunded legacy schemes, which includes civil servants, teachers and NHS staff. The paper states: “The government believes this is the right approach to take in order to ensure the CCM...

May 22, 2023
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19May

UK. DC funds adoption of ESG investments accelerates

How defined contribution (DC) schemes invest has been a topic of much debate with various government consultations threatening change and offering opportunity in equal measure. The master trust sector clearly wishes to be seen to be driving forward the debate, aiming to set the investment agenda and also offer more sophisticated investments to members. With the news that there is a 66% chance we will pass the 1.5ºC global warming threshold between now and 2027 it is clear we need...

May 19, 2023
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