December 2022
21Dec

UK. Pensions regulator unveils consultation on defined benefit funding

A draft funding code of conduct and consultation on defined benefit (DB) pension schemes has been unveiled by The Pensions Regulator, requiring trustees to think carefully about risk management to improve security for their members. Under the draft code and consultation, schemes will be expected to set a long-term objective and a “journey plan” for achieving it. The regulator expects schemes will reduce their reliance on sponsoring employers as they reach maturity. The consultation requires trustees to raise the bar...

December 21, 2022
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20Dec

UK. Early retirement and our ageing population are causing labour shortages, says Lords report

Economic inactivity has increased by 565,000 people since the start of the pandemic - a stark reversal of what was happening before 2020. The biggest contributor to this change has been an increase in early retirement, the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee concluded today in its report “Where have all the workers gone?” Background Earlier retirement is the biggest of four factors that have made it harder to fill jobs. Increasing sickness; changes in the structure of migration; and an...

December 20, 2022
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19Dec

UK. State pension: ‘60,000’ veterans set to miss out on 10.1% boost next year

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has confirmed there will be a 10.1 percent rise to the state pension from April 2023, as the triple lock returns. The news has been welcomed by many older Britons, but not all state pensioners can expect to obtain the increase. The UK European Economic Area (EEA) Gibraltar Switzerland Countries with a social security agreement with the UK (but not Canada or New Zealand). Those who live outside of these countries will not get a yearly increase, and...

December 19, 2022
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16Dec

UK. British Airways signs agreement under New Airways Pension Scheme

British Airways has signed an agreement with the trustee of its New Airways Pension Scheme (NAPS) on the scheme's triennial valuation, the airline's owner IAG said on Thursday. The valuation, based on the scheme's funding position as of March 31, 2021, shows an agreed technical provisions deficit of 1.65 billion pounds ($2.01 billion), compared with a deficit of 2.4 billion pounds as of March 31, 2018. Under the terms of the agreement, British Airways will not pay a dividend in 2022...

December 16, 2022
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15Dec

Regulators set sights on hedge funds after UK pension crisis

Britain's markets watchdog is working with overseas regulators to look at other stresses in the global financial system, such as leveraged hedge funds, its chief executive said on Wednesday, following a pensions crisis in late September. A radical tax-cutting budget in September by former Prime Minister Liz Truss's government triggered a jump in British government bond yields, which forced defined benefit, or final salary pension schemes to raise cash quickly to meet margin calls on liability-driven investment (LDI) derivatives positions....

December 15, 2022
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14Dec

Banco de Inglaterra examinará solidez de entidades financieras no bancarias

El Banco de Inglaterra someterá en 2023 a pruebas de resistencia a las entidades financieras no bancarias que operan en el Reino Unido, tras detectar un riesgo de volatilidad en ese sector, ha indicado este martes en su informe periódico sobre la estabilidad del sistema financiero. El banco central británico pide además a la comunidad internacional “una actuación urgente” para reducir los riesgos que pueden presentar ese tipo de empresas, que son variadas y operan desde muchos países. “Hoy en día,...

December 14, 2022
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14Dec

UK. BoE to stress test non-banks for first time after pensions turmoil

Investment funds and other non-bank financial institutions face their first 'stress test' next year to apply lessons from the near-meltdown in Britain's pension fund sector, the Bank of England (BoE) said on Tuesday. The BoE had to step in from September to buy 19.3 billion pounds ($23.75 billion) of government bonds to stabilise markets after turmoil caused by the fiscal plans of Liz Truss's short-lived government. Liability-driven investment (LDI) funds, used by pension funds to ensure their long-term payouts, struggled to...

December 14, 2022
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13Dec

UK. TPR calls for trustees to increase investment decision skills

Trustees should take advantage of available support and guidance to increase their skills in relation to investment decisions, The Pensions Regulator (TPR) executive director of policy, analysis and advice, David Fairs, has said. In a blog post, Fairs argued that defined contribution (DC) pension scheme trustees should take action to enable pension savers access to the investment opportunities that best support good outcomes. Fairs suggested that while DC trustees are at a fork in the road on their DC journey, “the...

December 13, 2022
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12Dec

UK. Three reasons to get excited about pensions dashboards

Pensions dashboards have been a long time in the making, but the Department for Work and Pensions is now driving this project through to fruition. Over recent months there has been significant steps forward. The official timetable has been set and large occupational schemes and all types of personal pensions have to connect by next summer. A year of testing follows that and once more than 90 per cent of schemes are connected, dashboards will be launched onto an unsuspecting public. Well,...

December 12, 2022
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09Dec

UK. Mystery of missing state pension credits deepens, as DWP and HMRC fob people off with a legion of excuses over incorrect records

Savers with holes in their state pension records are being stonewalled by staff in three separate Government departments, who have all refused to help them. After we revealed a mystery 'glitch' in the state pension system, many readers got in touch to say their valuable National Insurance credits were missing - contradicting the Government which had told us there was no indication of a wider issue. Eamon Campbell, pictured right, turned 66 in February and is two years short of getting...

December 9, 2022
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