All Defined benefit articles – Page 133
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OpinionSuperfunds: A safer prospect for members?
Aside from the constant, almost deafening chatter surrounding Brexit, the Department for Work and Pensions consultation on defined benefit consolidation – or superfunds – has been the talk of the pensions town over the past few weeks.
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Features
Caffyns appoints fiduciary manager and overhauls portfolio
Trustees of the £86m Caffyns Pension Scheme have appointed a fiduciary manager to improve the performance of the fund’s assets, leading to a restructuring of its investment portfolio.
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FeaturesLafarge pension scheme enters into longevity swap to reduce risk
The Lafarge UK Pension Plan has entered into a longevity swap with a global reinsurance company, in a bid to reduce the scheme’s exposure to longevity risk.
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News
UK pension schemes’ deficit falls to £23.1bn
On the go: UK pension schemes have beaten the January blues, with their total deficit down by £8.8bn, according to recent Pension Protection Fund figures.
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News
Relief for pension schemes as CPI falls to 1.8 per cent
On the go: UK pension schemes will get a small measure of comfort from the current inflation figure, with the consumer price index falling for the third month in a row to 1.8 per cent in January, the lowest level since January 2017.
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PodcastsPodcast: How to approach the bulk annuity market
Podcast: 2019 is predicted to break last year’s record for bulk annuity deals. But with insurers being more selective, experts have stressed the need for defined benefit pension scheme trustees to make sure they are well prepared before approaching the market. In this episode, Marian Elliott, head of integrated actuarial at consultancy Redington, discusses the main drivers behind increased derisking activity in recent years, and explains how pension funds should prepare for transactions.
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News
New criminal sanctions could be difficult to enforce, experts say
The government has said that it plans to go ahead with proposals for new criminal offences to prevent and penalise mismanagement of pension schemes, but enforcing these sanctions may prove challenging, experts say.
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News
PASA looks to future of e-administration with scheme survey
The Pensions Administration Standards Association is calling on the pensions industry to open up about the quality of their administration and members' use of technology in a new survey.
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News
PPF confirms new compensation cap
On the go: The Pension Protection Fund has confirmed new compensation cap limits.
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News
Insurers brace themselves for DB superfund disruption
Insurers are bracing themselves for disruption by superfunds, but their desire and capability to establish their own defined benefit consolidation vehicles remains unclear.
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News
UK pension deficit falls by £80bn to £210bn
On the go: January saw a significant in improvement in the funding level of the UK’s 5,450 defined benefit pension schemes.
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OpinionTrustees must go the extra mile for their members on transfers
Trustees are often caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to defined benefit transfers.
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Features
UK schemes slash equities following long bull market
The global financial crisis gave rise to a record-long bull run, but in recent years many DB pension funds have been preparing for the inevitable end to these highs by reducing their reliance on equities.
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FeaturesRoundtable: How to get the best bulk annuity pricing
Buyout appears to be within reach for more defined benefit schemes than ever before. Experts at a recent Pensions Expert roundtable sought to quell fears that schemes must ‘buy now while stocks last’, and set out a number of considerations for trustees and employers moving towards bulk annuity purchase.
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News
PLSA: Shareholders’ resolutions against FTSE directors’ pay triple
On the go: Shareholder activism is on the rise. Across Britain’s major companies in the FTSE 350, 148 annual meeting resolutions attracted ‘significant’ dissent levels across 82 different companies in 2018, recent research has shown. Executive pay and directors’ election were the top areas of concern.
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News
UK’s EU pensions liabilities could reach €9.75bn
On the go: The UK’s share of the EU’s pension is liabilities could be as much as €9.75bn (£8.52bn), Lord Bates told Parliament on Monday.
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OpinionTPR: 2019 must see member security improve
The Pensions Regulator’s Fiona Frobisher reminds us of the regulatory developments scheduled to improve pensions in 2019, and ramps up the pressure on poorly run small schemes to consider the emerging regulated consolidation market.
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OpinionData crunch: Consolidation will change shape of both DB and DC
Unlike pension systems in the rest of Europe, where large-scale pension funds are common, the UK is characterised by a large number of small, single-employer pension schemes. Some argue the disparate nature of UK pensions has created inefficiencies that should be addressed through consolidation.
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News
Pension freedoms see more than £7bn withdrawn in 2018
On the go: The UK’s fondness for pension freedoms continues unabated, with £1.9bn withdrawn from pension schemes under flexible pension rules in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to the latest HMRC figures published on Friday.
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PodcastsPodcast: ESG - Trustee investment duties explained
Podcast: New regulations coming into force this year mean pension schemes will be required to publish more-detailed statements of investment principles. These will address financially material environmental, social and governance risks, such as climate change. In this episode, Stuart O’Brien, a partner at law firm Sackers, discusses recent ESG-related developments, the danger of conflating ethical matters with ESG considerations, and explains how schemes can respond to member and pressure group queries.