All Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) articles – Page 36
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Opinion
The great auto-enrolment review is in train
From the blog: The Public Accounts Committee has launched an inquiry into the risks associated with registering smaller employers for auto-enrolment and how this translates into higher retirement incomes for members.
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News
How schemes can protect their members online
Trustees must be extra vigilant in their assessment of online platforms and review data-handling processes to protect members from the growing threat of cyber crime, experts have said.
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Opinion
Incentivising savings – or reducing tax reliefs?
There is still no certainty about the future tax treatment of pensions. The Society of Pension Professionals’ president Duncan Buchanan explains why we might just end up with the system we have got.
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Opinion
Altmann: Government needs your help to revise charging model
Talking Head: As pensions minister, I am acutely conscious that the government can have an important role in encouraging people to plan for later and giving people the opportunity to maintain a decent standard of living in retirement.
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News
Pension freedom report: Must do better
A clearer definition of advice and stronger warnings about scams were two of the points raised in the Work and Pensions Committee’s report on pension freedom this week, which has found support across the industry.
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Opinion
How DB schemes can offset end of contracting-out costs
The end of contracting out means extra costs for defined benefit sponsors and members. CMS Cameron McKenna’s Johanna Clarke and Keith Webster reveal how employers can ease some of the pain.
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News
Court rules same-sex pension benefit ceiling to remain
News Analysis: Schemes dodged a potential £3bn cost hike this week, as the legal position on the equalisation of pension benefits for same-sex partners withstood further challenge in the courts.
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News
Freedom variability distorts member behaviour, FCA study shows
Data from the Financial Conduct Authority has shown drastic changes in how consumers access their pensions since the introduction of the flexibilities, though experts have said difficulty accessing some options may have skewed consumer choices.
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Opinion
Altmann: Ramping up our auto-enrolment support for smaller employers
Talking Head: Auto-enrolment moved into a new phase this summer when small and micro firms started to join the workplace pension revolution.
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Opinion
Transaction charges: What? Why? When?
From the blog: Debate about the disclosure of transaction charges has made waves across the pensions industry this year. Will the autumn bring a fresh set of challenges and paperwork for trustees and independent governance committees? Or is it possible to draw answers from information already out there?
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Opinion
Why it is crucial to get a handle on transaction costs
If defined contribution scheme members are to make confident investment decisions they need to be clear on costs, says Mercer’s Andrew Williams.
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Opinion
More savers, less saving: latest on auto-enrolment
From the blog: Participation in UK workplace pensions has risen over the last decade, with auto-enrolment offsetting a downward trend since its introduction in 2012. However, the flood of new members has also served to dilute contributions in private sector schemes.
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News
Industry left reeling by latest pension tax proposals
Summer Budget: Chancellor George Osborne today unveiled a green paper proposing a significant overhaul of the current pensions tax relief system, going beyond what the industry had expected and acting as a harbinger of further radical reform.
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Opinion
A five-point plan for a healthier financial future
In my last column, I wrote about the challenge for the new pensions minister in balancing short-term political expediency with truly progressive pensions policy.
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News
Industry seeks remedy for multi-employer s75 headache
Experts have questioned the viability of solutions proposed in response to a government consultation to ease Section 75 debt obligations, the cost of which can potentially trap employersin multi-employer schemes.
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News
Cashed-out pots could hit future means-tested benefit claims, lawyers warn
Lawyers have called on providers to ensure members are fully aware of how accessing their pension pots could affect future benefit claims, as schemes grapple with their ‘second line of defence’ obligations.
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News
NAPF seeks certainty over non-default fund switching rules
The National Association of Pension Funds has written to the government to demand clarification on the movement of non-default members between funds, to ease trustee uncertainty around charge cap regulations.
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News
Committee compels next government to consolidate pension oversight
The Work and Pensions Committee has this week called for a dramatic overhaul of the industry’s current regulatory frameworks.
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News
Webb calls for pensions dashboard within two years
Pensions minister Steve Webb last week called on the next government to implement a combined state and private pension statement within the next two years that also incorporates aspects of pot-follows-member.
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News
Pressure for transparency builds as City watchdog loads on demands
The Financial Conduct Authority delivered a defined contribution charges double-whammy this week with the release of its final rules for the default fund charge cap plus a call for evidence on the disclosure of transaction charges.