All Covenant articles – Page 10
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PodcastsPodcast: How should trustees be monitoring their employer covenant?
Podcast: Over the last few years, headlines highlighting several high-profile defined benefit pension cases have hammered home the importance of having a strong covenant. Mark Evans, director at Independent Trustee Services, and Adolfo Aponte, director at covenant specialists Lincoln Pensions, explain how trustees can keep tabs on their employer.
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OpinionRegulation must adapt to protect members in consolidation deals
Darren Redmayne from Lincoln Pensions outlines the regulatory and guidance framework that could help facilitate safe transfers to commercial consolidators, and the steps defined benefit trustees might take in the interim.
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News
DB governance: Small schemes fail to keep pace
Small defined benefit schemes are still lagging behind their larger counterparts when it comes to governance standards, new research from the Pensions Regulator has shown.
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News
Regulator calls for schemes to consider lowering transfer values
On the go: The Pensions Regulator has asked the trustees of several defined benefit schemes to contemplate cutting transfer values for workers opting out of schemes.
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News
Renishaw in recovery plan discussion with regulator
British engineering company Renishaw has been in discussions with the Pensions Regulator after the watchdog questioned its recovery plan, potentially leading to a £45m cash contribution to the scheme if the current recovery plan is terminated.
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News
Record corporate debts – a covenant warning signal?
UK companies’ net debts hit record highs over 2017/18, a new study has found, prompting concerns about how some sponsors of the UK’s defined benefit pension schemes will weather a turn in the interest rate cycle.
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News
Trustees warned to be vigilant before approving superfund deals
Trustees eyeing a transfer into one of the UK’s nascent superfunds must consider the viability of the acquiring consolidation vehicle before consenting to a ‘buyout-lite’ deal, the Pensions Regulator’s executive director of frontline regulation has warned.
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OpinionTrustee negotiation need not always result in a winner and a loser
Edward Levy at Law Debenture Pension Trustees explains how to ensure effective trustee negotiation.
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News
Industry backs alternative to mandatory clearance
Requiring companies to prepare a formal statement on how corporate activity might affect their pension schemes could help protect members from being put at risk, a survey of restructuring professionals has suggested.
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News
Scheme support levels at highest level since financial crisis
FTSE 350 companies are in the strongest position to support their defined benefit schemes since the 2007/08 financial crisis, a new report has found. However, the gap between the index’s winners and losers continues to rise.
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OpinionHow to guide your pension fund through M&A activity
While M&A activity generally means uncertainty, trustees should be mindful that the scheme’s position may ultimately be improved by a deal, says Josiah Harris at Dalriada Trustees.
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FeaturesTaylor Wimpey pension plan reaches full funding
Trustees of housebuilder Taylor Wimpey’s pension plan, which completed a medically underwritten mortality study last year, have announced that the scheme has reached full funding following a £23m injection from the company in April.
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NewsS&N scheme to review impact of pubs takeover
Trustees of the Scottish & Newcastle Pension Plan will be assessing the impact of a recent corporate acquisition made by the pension scheme’s parent company Heineken UK, as part of a full covenant review this year.
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Opinion
How can schemes assess employer covenant strength?
Darren Redmayne chuckles good-naturedly, at what must be the thousandth time a journalist has asked whether the FTSE 100’s recently revealed accounting surplus means their defined benefit pension problems have gone away.
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News
Brewery and chair plead guilty in regulator's s72 case
Samuel Smith Old Brewery and its chairman Humphrey Smith have pleaded guilty to failing to provide information about its schemes to the Pensions Regulator.
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OpinionDDAs will require scrutiny to ensure security of benefits is not affected
A deferred debt arrangement could be helpful for those sponsors currently unable to afford the cost of continued benefit accrual, but it will require significant scrutiny from trustees and their advisers, explains Alex Hutton-Mills from Lincoln Pensions.
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NewsAssociated British Ports consults on accrual change
Associated British Ports has proposed to change the accrual rate for its defined benefit pension scheme, in a bid to cut costs and focus on fairness while keeping the scheme open to accrual.
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NewsTourist board employers block scheme valuation
The British Tourist Authority and VisitScotland have yet to sign off on their scheme’s 2015 valuation as they are looking to secure guarantees from the UK and Scottish governments, in what has been described as a “torturous” process.
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NewsReuters steps up member comms during sponsor M&A
Trustees of the defined benefit schemes of Thomson Reuters have been updating members about the agreed sale of part of the business, as experts stress the fine line between saying too much or too little about a deal.
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FeaturesRobo-trustees: Would you welcome one on your board?
Any other business: For those feeling uneasy about the idea of sitting next to a Star Wars-style droid at a quarterly meeting, you can rest assured we are not likely to witness the rise of the robo-trustee anytime soon.