All Cash and money markets articles
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NewsKwarteng out as LDI derivative losses set to hit £149bn
Market moves: Liz Truss sacks Kwasi Kwarteng, with Jeremy Hunt installed as chancellor; JPMorgan estimates market-to-market losses from liability-driven investment derivatives could hit $167bn (£149bn); and schemes rush to prepare as the Bank of England ends its bond-buying programme.
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NewsPPF to slash levy by more than £400mn in two years
The Pension Protection Fund is to slash its levy by more than £400mn by 2023-24, after a review found strong investment performance and a reduced risk of claims.
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NewsInsurers publish first bulk annuity ‘best practice’ guide
On the go: UK insurers have collaborated to produce the industry’s first-ever “best practice” guide for schemes preparing for bulk annuity quotations, laying out principles by which trustees, advisers and administrators should abide.
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NewsDWP spends £13mn in arrears to FAS members due to court cases
The Department for Work and Pensions is estimating a total cost of £13mn in arrears paid to Financial Assistance Scheme members due to the implementation of recent court cases, its annual report and accounts have revealed.
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NewsAon and Mercer issue ‘urgent’ call to action over LDI strategies
Consultancies Aon and Mercer have urged pension schemes, trustees and sponsors to prepare to intervene to protect their schemes, as bond market volatility puts strain on liability-driven investment strategies.
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NewsInflation and Covid uncertainty temper PPF performance
Inflation is one of a number of concerns for the Pension Protection Fund, with post-Covid uncertainty tempering reaction to an otherwise positive set of results released in its annual report published on Monday.
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NewsGuidance ‘stronger nudge’ still poses more questions than answers
Regulators are unclear about how the take-up levels of pensions guidance should look like as a result of the “stronger nudge”, since parts of the proposal have yet to be tested, the Work and Pensions Committee has heard.
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NewsIsle of Man civil servants to choose between DB and DC
On the go: Civil servants on the Isle of Man are to be given a choice between an existing defined benefit scheme and a new defined contribution arrangement, the island’s government has announced.
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NewsHousing associations to suffer following SHPS valuation
On the go: Housing associations are facing average contribution rate increases of 17 per cent following the Social Housing Pension Scheme’s 2020 valuation, a full 50 per cent higher than expected under the current deficit repayment plan, LCP has said.
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NewsUltra pension scheme set for £100m acquisition windfall
On the go: A proposed £2.57bn cash acquisition by Cobham Ultra Acquisitions of Ultra Electronics Holdings will see the defence company’s defined benefit scheme receive an extra £100m in funding.
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NewsFour out of five investors to increase fixed income exposure
On the go: Eighty per cent of institutional investors intend to increase their fixed income exposure over the next three years, with one in six expecting this increase to be “significant”, according to a study by Aviva Investors.
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NewsCovid-19 sees drop in sponsor support for DB schemes
On the go: The economic damage and uncertainty wrought by Covid-19 has seen a drop in employer support for defined benefit pension schemes, suggesting they will find it harder to meet their pension obligations as the pandemic’s fallout continues.
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NewsPoor choices under pension freedoms cost savers £2bn
Savers taking advantage of pension freedoms to cash out before retirement have suffered £2bn in lost returns, spurring calls for better financial education, according to analysis by LCP.
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NewsBespoke funding route could save charities 65% in cash contributions
On the go: Charities could cut their defined benefit cash contributions by between 35 and 65 per cent if they opt for the bespoke option over the fast-track route in the new DB funding code, according to analysis by Hymans Robertson.
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NewsResearch tech DB scheme receives £8.1m additional deficit payment
On the go: Oxford Instruments made an additional deficit recovery payment of £8.1m to its defined benefit pension scheme in the year ending in March 2021.
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NewsLGPS assets drop 5% in 2020 as contribution income rises
Local Government Pension Scheme assets fell by 4.9 per cent in 2020 to £276bn, but funds saw increases in membership and contribution income, according to the most recent annual report from the LGPS Advisory Board.
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‘Challenging’ 2020 forces 80% of DB schemes to reassess portfolios
On the go: Eighty per cent of defined benefit pension schemes plan to reassess their investment portfolios after the events of 2020 put returns in doubt, according to research by the Pensions Management Institute and River and Mercantile.
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DB schemes over-reliant on ‘historically improbable’ returns
On the go: Underfunded defined benefit schemes in the UK will require “once-in-a-century” equity performance if they are to avoid carrying their funding gaps well into the 2030s, according to a new report from Willis Towers Watson.
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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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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.