September 2022
01Sep

U.S. corporate pension buyouts hit record $12.3 billion in Q2 – LIMRA

U.S. corporate pension plan buyout sales totaled $12.31 billion in the quarter ended June 30, the highest volume for a second quarter ever recorded, a LIMRA survey found. The second-quarter total in buyout sales represented an increase of 148% from the year-over-year quarter, which saw a total of $4.97 billion in combined buyout and buy-in sales during the three months ended June 30, 2021. The exceptionally high volume in the second quarter of this year is especially significant since the vast...

September 1, 2022
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01Sep

UK. Pensions dashboards standards need ‘extensive user testing’

Respondents to the pensions dashboards standards consultation have warned that user testing and experience will be required before a full assessment can be provided. The Department for Work and Pensions intends for the dashboards’ legislative framework to come into force from April 2023. The Pensions Dashboards Programme’s consultation, launched on July 19, sought input from the pensions industry on areas including operational, security and design standards. The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association and the Society of Pension Professionals were among respondents...

September 1, 2022
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August 2022
31Aug

UK. Pensions industry urged to join forces to address adequacy concerns

The pensions industry has been urged to work together to reach a consensus on how to deal with the issue of under saving, after a report from B&CE found that 61 per cent of households and nearly two thirds (63 per cent) of individuals aren’t saving enough for retirement. The analysis, based on data from the ONS Wealth and Assets Survey, found that 68 per cent of Generation X workers aren’t saving enough, rising to 76 per cent amongst Millenials,...

August 31, 2022
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30Aug

UK. Workers cut pension contributions amid cost of living crisis

Workers are leaving pension schemes or cutting their contributions, trade unions say, as the cost of living crisis prompts desperate measures that will reduce their retirement funds. The warning comes as UK inflation is predicted to hit 18.6 per cent, the highest rate among larger western economies, and as real wages fall at the fastest rate for at least two decades. The Trades Union Congress, the UK’s main movement for organised labour, said a growing number of its members in the...

August 30, 2022
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29Aug

UK. Andy Bell: Common sense failure risks good work on pension transfers

By  Andy Bell In December last year I wrote in Money Marketing that new regulations designed to protect savers from pension scams would only work properly if common sense was applied by schemes administering transfers. Sadly, in certain parts of the industry, it appears ‘common sense’ is an alien concept, and it looks increasingly likely the rules will need to be revisited to ensure legitimate transfers aren’t slowed to a crawl or blocked altogether. Pension transfer scams As a reminder, this saga started...

August 29, 2022
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26Aug

UK. Just 6% of pension transfers not flagged as scams

A staggering 94% of pension transfer cases reviewed by XPS Group’s Scam Protection Service were registered as having one or more scam warning signs in July 2022 – a small fall from 97% in June 2022. The firm said this is the second month in a row where the rate has been in excess of 90% of cases, with the overseas investment amber flag being the most common warning identified. However, pension transfer activity seems to be on the rise as...

August 26, 2022
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25Aug

UK. Cost-of-living crisis could slash pensions by quarter

The youngest UK workers could see their retirement savings cut by a quarter if they were to reduce their pension contributions by 2% in response to the cost-of-living crisis. That is according to new analysis by consultancy firm Broadstone, which found that 25-year-olds could lose up to £60,000 of their pension savings if a ‘temporary’ cutback in contributions becomes permanent. This is based on 2% reduction in employee contributions – taking total contributions down from 8% to 6%, assuming that 3%...

August 25, 2022
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Liz Truss
22Aug

UK. Liz Truss eyes merger of regulators

Conservative party leadership candidate Liz Truss is eyeing up plans to merge three of the financial regulators, but advisers say her plans are destined to fail. Read also Renewable energy’s charm still growing for investors According to FTAdviser's sister title The Financial Times, Truss will launch an immediate review of the roles and responsibilities of the regulators if she wins her party's leadership election next month. It could see the Financial Conduct Authority, the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Payments Systems Regulator...

August 22, 2022
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22Aug

Renewable energy’s charm still growing for investors

Amid a just-passed U.S. climate bill unleashing record investment in domestic clean energy, energy transition efforts in the U.K. and Europe well underway and energy security concerns raised by the Ukraine war, institutional investors seem poised for the next level of investing in renewables. "Over the last year alone, we've witnessed the highest levels of interest in renewables we've ever seen from institutional investors," said Matt Setchell, co-head of Octopus Energy Generation's fund management team in London. Part of Octopus...

August 22, 2022
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18Aug

UK. 80% of employers think it is important pensions are invested responsibly

Aviva’s Working Lives Report 2022: The Big Squeeze(1) has found four out of five (80%) employers compared to 65% of employees think it is important that a workplace pension fund is invested responsibly. The research also found a further 19% of employees said responsible investment(2) is important but only as long as it does not impact the performance of their funds. However, over half (55%) of employees do not know if their workplace pension fund is invested responsibly. Just over...

August 18, 2022
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