November 2022
01Nov

UK. Pension dashboards near live testing stage

The Pensions Dashboards Programme has moved into the testing of digital architecture phase, with more than 20 organisations taking part as early participants, programme principal Chris Curry has said. The next stage of the process will see early participants, including pension providers, schemes and integrated service providers, connecting to the “dashboards ecosystem”. In an update report on the programme, Curry said the central digital architecture has been completed and testing is now underway alongside the development of operational and technical standards. “Over...

November 1, 2022
News, ,
Read more...

October 2022
31Oct

UK. Increased pension engagement could trigger ‘unintended consequences’

Successfully engaging people with their pensions could result in “unintended consequences”, particularly given the current economic environment, Aon has said. Although Aon highlighted UK Pensions Awareness Week as an “opportunity” for the financial industry to connect with people and encourage active engagement with retirement savings, it acknowledged the difficulties presented by to the current cost-of-living issues. Among the issues highlighted by Aon was the possibility that individuals could be more inclined to cease their contributions or request early access to their...

October 31, 2022
News, , , ,
Read more...
28Oct

UK. State pensions triple lock to stay, hints Nadhim Zahawi

Guarantee of at least a 2.5pc rise could be kept to help ‘uniquely vulnerable’, even though No 10 refused to commit to the pledge The state pension triple lock will be kept in place, Nadhim Zahawi has suggested, after Number 10 refused to commit to the pledge. Mr Zahawi, the new chairman of the Conservative Party, said pensioners were "uniquely vulnerable" amid the cost of living crisis and ahead of next month's Autumn Statement, which is expected to result in wide-ranging...

October 28, 2022
News, ,
Read more...
28Oct

Discounting and the Market Valuation of Defined Benefit Pensions

By luca larcher & Francis Breedon We investigate how defined benefit pension schemes of FTSE firms are valued by the equity market, focusing on how future liabilities are discounted (since UK data allows us to estimate the duration of pension liabilities fairly accurately). We find that equity market valuation is consistent with discounting without allowing for credit risk. This differs from the approach used in published accounts for which IAS 19 (and SFAS No. 158, its US equivalent) allows for...

October 28, 2022
Articles, Pension design, ,
Read more...
27Oct

Don’t Count on Sunak to Protect Your UK Pension

Liz Truss lasted only 44 days as UK prime minister. But her legacy in respect of your pension will almost certainly endure for decades. It is important to understand how this might affect you and how best to respond. One of Truss’s last acts as PM was to reaffirm the government’s commitment to raise the state pension each year by the higher of earnings, inflation or 2.5%. The more fiscally hawkish new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been more circumspect...

October 27, 2022
News, OP Ed, Op-Ed,
Read more...
26Oct

UK. TPR publishes consolidated enforcement powers

The Pensions Regulator has published its new enforcement policy, which contains new powers awarded in the Pension Schemes Act 2021, and replaces and consolidates compliance and enforcement policies governing defined benefit, defined contribution and public sector pension schemes. Amid a raft of announcements, TPR also published responses to a consultation issued after the PSA 2021, which came into force in order to provide clarity on how the watchdog intends to use its new powers. “Feedback from stakeholders also highlighted a need...

October 26, 2022
News,
Read more...
25Oct

UK. University staff to strike over pay and pensions

University lecturers, librarians and admin staff across the UK will strike over pay and pensions, the University and College Union (UCU) has announced. A total of 70,000 UCU members at 150 universities were asked to vote in two separate ballots - one on pay and working conditions, and another on pensions. Strike dates are yet to be decided. University employers say a pay rise would put jobs at risk in what they say are "very difficult" financial times. Students - some of whom...

October 25, 2022
News, ,
Read more...
24Oct

UK. Inflation sparks a new era of pensions inequality

The generosity of public sector pensions was a compensation for low salaries. However, this gap is narrowing. The average worker in the private sector earned £622 a week in the year to August, according to an IDR analyst. The average public sector worker, excluding those who worked in finance, earned £593. Former public servants will also enjoy two layers of taxpayer-funded inflation protection next year, assuming the “triple lock” state pensions are maintained. The policy pledges to increase the state pension...

October 24, 2022
News, ,
Read more...
24Oct

UK parliament panel probes defined benefit pension schemes over safeguards

A British parliament panel on Monday launched an inquiry into the defined benefit pension schemes with liability-driven investments (LDIs) to ascertain whether they have adequate regulation to protect pension funds' value. The work and pensions committee inquiry will examine the impact of the recent volatility in gilt yields and intervention by the Bank of England (BoE) as well as the role of the pensions regulator in monitoring the use of LDIs and whether these schemes have proper oversight arrangements in...

October 24, 2022
News, ,
Read more...
20Oct

Liz Truss commits to triple lock but then resigns as UK’s Prime Minister

The prime minister has resigned after 44 days in the role. In a statement outside 10 Downing Street today (October 20), Liz Truss said: “I came into office at a time of great economic and political instability…I cannot deliver the mandate.” Read also U.K. Pensions Doom Loop May Not Be Over Truss was told to quit by senior Tory members, according to the FT, the day after the home secretary, Suella Braverman, quit the government and used her resignation letter to issue...

October 20, 2022
News, ,
Read more...