July 2022
14Jul

UK. Cost of living puts pension freedoms gains in jeopardy

Inflation worries and the fear of running out of money are putting the gains from pension freedoms at risk. A report from independent actuaries AKG found that while advisers believe there has been an evolution in how people save for retirement since pension freedoms came into force in 2015, the current crisis is putting progress in this area under strain. Published in partnership with Abrdn and Scottish Widows, the report included a survey of 2,000 consumers and 100 advisers, along with...

July 14, 2022
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13Jul

UK pensions insurance deals to rise more than 25% in 2022-adviser

Britain is likely to see around 35 billion pounds ($41.62 billion) in pensions buy-in and buy-out deals in 2022, up more than 25% from 2021, consultants Hymans Robertson said on Wednesday. Such deals involve offloading the risk of company defined benefit, or final salary, pension schemes to an insurer. Pensions' funding positions have improved following government and central bank stimulus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making such deals cheaper for some companies, industry specialists say. The deals remove balance sheet risk for...

July 13, 2022
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12Jul

UK. FCA appoints new chair

Ashley Alder has been announced by HM Treasury as the new chair of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and is expected to take up the role in January 2023, taking over from Richard Lloyd who has served as interim chair since May 2022. Alder is currently chief executive officer of the Securities and Future Commission (SFC) in Hong Kong, a role he has held since 2011, and also chairs the board of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and...

July 12, 2022
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11Jul

UK. Guy Opperman reappointed pensions minister

Guy Opperman has agreed to return to his pensions minister post until a new leader of the Conservative party is elected. Opperman announced his reappointment as parliamentary under secretary of state at the Department for Work and Pensions on Twitter on July 8, a day after resigning from his post when he said the government could no longer function and asked prime minister Boris Johnson to step down from office. “[I] have agreed to help DWP navigate the next few weeks,...

July 11, 2022
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08Jul

UK. 90% of savers would use digital pensions dashboard

Nine in 10 savers would use a digital pensions dashboard if it gave them a consolidated view of their pensions, savings and investments, according to research from The Investing and Saving Alliance and EY. The report, based in part on interviews with more than 20 senior executives from across the financial services industry, found that 90 per cent would use a dashboard if it consolidated that financial information, while 94 per cent of those currently using a dashboard would use...

July 8, 2022
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07Jul

U.K. pensions minister Guy Opperman resigns

Guy Opperman, the U.K.'s longest-serving pensions minister, resigned Thursday amid a wave of top officials departing in the lead up to Prime Minister Boris Johnson stepping down. In his resignation letter to Mr. Johnson, Mr. Opperman said that the U.K. government "simply cannot function with you in charge." "It should not take the resignation of 50 colleagues, but sadly the PM has left us no choice. He should resign," Mr. Opperman said in the letter. Mr. Opperman became parliamentary under secretary of...

July 7, 2022
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05Jul

UK. Advice sector must do more to attract younger clients

There is a worrying stereotype attached to the financial advice sector: it is interested only in clients who have accumulated a large amount of wealth — so it can easily acquire assets under management. This translates to a tendency to serve clients who are old, who have paid off their mortgage and who have a defined benefit (DB) pension. We have passed ‘peak DB’, with more people now saving through DC schemes The ideal clients, in other words, are the Babyboomer generation,...

July 5, 2022
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04Jul

UK. DB pension surplus reached record high in June

The aggregate defined benefit (DB) pension scheme surplus in the UK increased by £60bn to £250bn in June, according to the PwC Pension Trustee Funding Index, marking the highest surplus recorded since the launch of the index in 2015. The index showed that whilst asset values fell over the month amid market volatility, this was more than offset by a larger fall in liabilities, as long-term bond yields continued to rise. Liabilities fell by £110bn to £1,340bn, while asset values declined...

July 4, 2022
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June 2022
27Jun

UK. Four in five DB transfer requests raise scam warning

Four in five (83 per cent) defined benefit transfer requests have raised one or more warning flags, according to XPS Pensions Group. The firm’s scam flag index recorded May to have the highest number of scam warnings in the tracker’s history, up from a near record high in March. This is an increase of roughly 30 per cent since the beginning of 2022. XPS Pensions Group client lead, member engagement hub, Helen Cavanagh, said: “We continue to see the rate of potential...

June 27, 2022
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27Jun

Could ESG improve scheme engagement?

Industry Voice: A major survey carried out by Aegon shows pension savers care deeply about climate change and the environment Aegon's recent survey of around 10,000 UK residents shows that most pension investors care deeply about the environment and their world's future. It also suggests that the more someone's investments are helping the climate emergency, the more likely they are to be happy about their investments and be better engaged with their pension arrangements. But too many customers remain unaware...

June 27, 2022
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