All Defined benefit articles – Page 197
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Features
RSPB scheme migrates to contingent assets to underpin 17-year recovery plan
The bird protection charity RSPB has set up a £56.4m contingent asset agreement with its pension scheme as part of a wider effort to reduce the funding deficit.
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News
Corporate schemes up alts but stem fixed income flows
UK corporate schemes ploughed 20 percentage points more of their assets into alternatives in the past three months than the previous quarter, while cutting inflows into fixed income, investment data have shown.
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Features
Cambridgeshire fund tightens payment reporting ahead of regulatory changes
Cambridgeshire County Council Pension Fund has mandated its largest participating employer to detail member contributions, in order to more effectively monitor late payments to the scheme as new reporting requirements come into play.
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Features
South Yorks ups property, EMD and high-yield in search for returns
South Yorkshire Pension Fund has increased its allocation to property and placed greater emphasis on emerging market and high-yield debt as it searches for greater balance between risk and returns.
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Opinion
Altmann: New pension flexibilities will make it harder to attract members to CDC
Talking head: Pensions commentator Ros Altmann says the new at-retirement flexibilities introduced in this year’s Budget will make it harder to attract employers and members to shared risk schemes.
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Features
Hunting yield in an unpredictable fixed income market
A slump in government bond yields has caused some defined benefit schemes to delay derisking and look for greater returns in more volatile assets.
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Features
EE ditches gilts for absolute return as institutions hunt yield
The largest UK mobile group’s defined benefit pension scheme is removing a set allocation to index-linked gilts in favour of absolute return bonds and hedge funds, the latest institutional investor to reset its portfolio in a hunt for value.
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Opinion
PPF: levy dip likely to be followed by further falls
The Pension Protection Fund’s Chris Collins gives a speedy run-through of the latest on its levy changes, and explains why the levy is expected to fall for a further two years after 2015/16.
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News
WMPF takes next step towards paperless comms
The West Midlands Pension Fund is taking the next step towards paperless member communications by issuing its 2015 benefit statement online only, as more schemes move further towards digital portals to reduce costs.
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Features
Hillingdon targets equity dividends, looks to lock in gains
London Borough of Hillingdon Pension Fund has shifted its equity portfolio away from UK holdings and towards unconstrained strategies, but the move has so far failed to perform.
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Features
Imerys consults on ceasing DB accrual after merger
Mineral specialist Imerys is undertaking a consultation to cease accrual in its defined benefit pension scheme, following the completion of a scheme merger earlier this year.
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News
Civil service scheme’s online relaunch triggers engagement surge
The Civil Service Pension Scheme has seen a huge spike in engagement from its 1.5m members after a website relaunch and major communication campaign multiplied users of its online services.
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Features
Tyne and Wear switches PE benchmark to limit relative volatility
Tyne and Wear Pension Fund has switched to using an absolute return benchmark for its private equity investments in a bid to reduce the relative volatility of returns.
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Features
BAE sees four in 10 agree to give up pension increases
BAE Systems Pension Scheme has experienced a 38 per cent take-up of a pension increase exchange offered to pensioner members, in an exercise to reduce its inflation risk.
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News
Employers face increased pension loss payouts after NHS case
Employers may be liable to pay increased compensation relating to pension loss to employees dismissed unfairly, lawyers have warned, after a tribunal appeal found an earlier decision had miscalculated the sum owed to an NHS scheme member.
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News
How scrapping 55% 'death tax' could affect your DB scheme
Consultants have again predicted greater interest in transfers out of defined benefit schemes following the proposed removal of inheritance tax on pension pots, while others doubted the changes would have much impact.
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News
What the ONS data tell us about contribution habits
Official data have shown employers with between 1,000 and 4,999 employees on average contribute more to their defined contribution schemes than their larger and smaller counterparts, as industry experts call for increased contributions.
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News
Budget flexibilities fail to spur DB transfer interest
Predictions that the Budget flexibilities would lure members out of defined benefit pension schemes have so far proved unfounded, as data show no uplift in the proportion requesting transfer value quotations.
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Features
Nationwide builds inflation hedge, ups matching assets to derisk
Nationwide Pension Fund has reduced its exposure to return-seeking assets and carried out its first significant inflation hedge, as capital adequacy rules drive banking and building society sponsors to reduce funding volatility.
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Opinion
Schemes make record gilts investment, and three other key ONS charts
Schemes invested heavily in fixed income assets – including government, corporate and overseas bonds – last quarter. Anticipated rate rises, schemes derisking out of equities and even switching from synthetic to real gilt holdings have all been investment drivers.