All articles by Benjamin Mercer – Page 35
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News
Investors urge companies to tackle modern-day slavery in Gulf
On the go: Brunel Pension Partnership is among a group of investors calling on companies to protect migrant workers in the Gulf, over concerns that job cancellations caused by Covid-19 are forcing them into debt bondage.
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DB schemes should beware lockdown ‘inertia’
On the go: Three in four defined benefit schemes say they have taken no material action to change their investment strategies or journey plans as a result of Covid-19, but a new report from LCP warns that “inertia” could prove damaging.
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Threat of action by TPR settles sponsor dispute
On the go: The Pensions Regulator has settled a case in which a pension scheme was placed at risk by an organisational restructure, with the threat of action being sufficient to force an agreement.
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PASA issues updated Covid-19 guidance
On the go: The Pensions Administration Standards Association has issued updated guidance designed to help administrators navigate the gradual end of lockdown.
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DB scheme accounting deficits jump £13bn in a month
On the go: The accounting deficits and liability values of the defined benefit schemes of the UK’s 350 largest listed companies rose by £13bn last month alone, according to research by Mercer.
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Trustees need more pay and diversity, survey finds
On the go: Remuneration levels for trustees and chairs are not sufficient to attract skilled applicants to the roles, while fears are growing that too few trustees are entering the profession, according to a new report by Winmark and Barnett Waddingham.
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Financial illiteracy and poor support plague concerned savers
Apathy from pension providers and regulators is allowing millions of savers to sleepwalk into retirement traps, according to the findings of a series of reports into poor levels of financial education and literacy.
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PodcastsPodcast: Schemes cannot eliminate chance of cyber breach
Podcast: Pension schemes hold an extraordinary amount of personal data. Though trustees have done much since the passage of the General Data Protection Regulation to improve data security, it is impossible to remove the risk of breaches entirely. So says ITM director Maurice Titley, joined this week by Aon partner Lynda Whitney to discuss cyber security, McCloud, and Covid-19’s impact on recovery plans.
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Small pension pots put AE success at risk
Research released by the Pensions Policy Institute warned that the proliferation of small pension pots risks undermining auto-enrolment success, unless significant government intervention is undertaken.
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New DB funding code could imperil sponsors and members
Some of the proposals in the Pensions Regulator’s consultation on a new defined benefit funding code could lead to worse outcomes for scheme sponsors, members and the Pension Protection Fund, according to a new report by LCP.
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Premaberg Holdings completes £5m bulk annuity transaction
On the go: Premaberg Holdings, a manufacturer of separation and filtration systems, has completed a £5m annuity buy-in with Just Group for its Premaberg Holdings Limited Retirement Benefits Plan.
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News
McCloud remedy ‘must be implemented efficiently’
On the go: The Association of Consulting Actuaries has warned that the government’s proposed solutions to the McCloud dilemma “must be implemented efficiently” for each affected scheme.
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Covid-19 forces half of DC schemes to review objectives
The coronavirus pandemic has compelled more than 50 per cent of defined contribution schemes to review their objectives and 20 per cent to alter their short-term plans, according to a report by Aon.
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News
New GMP guidance stops short of clarifying rules around conversion
New guidance on guaranteed minimum pensions has clarified the tax implication of equalising past inequalities between men and women, but critics have said it leaves unaddressed important questions for schemes hoping to convert GMPs into regular scheme benefits.
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Nest eyes 2026 breakeven amid increased revenue
On the go: Master trust Nest has seen its income rise 75 per cent over the course of last year while its expenditure fell by £20m, leaving it well placed to weather the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, according to its latest annual report.
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NewsGovernment ponders solutions to £17bn McCloud problem
The Treasury has set out two proposals for ending the discrimination between scheme members that resulted from its 2015 public sector pension reforms, with costs of unwinding its scheme changes estimated to cost £17bn.
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LGPS faced with huge McCloud admin challenge
On the go: Local Government Pension Scheme administering authorities urgently need to carry out impact assessments to clarify how many of their members fall under the scope of the McCloud judgment, according to Aon.
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Trend towards master trusts continues apace
On the go: The rate at which FTSE 250 companies move to master trusts as their main defined contribution vehicle is set to accelerate over the next two years, according to a new report from Willis Towers Watson.
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NewsUSS strikes £300m deal with with affordable housing investors
The Universities Superannuation Scheme has entered into a £300m 45-year debt facility arrangement with a real estate investment trust, funding shared ownership housing developments.
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Market volatility leads to attractive returns in low-risk credit
On the go: Pension schemes should consider adopting high-quality, low-duration credit strategies such as asset-backed securities as an alternative to traditional bond allocations when looking to derisk their portfolios, according to a new report from Aon.