A handful of Local Government Pension Scheme funds and a former pensions minister are unconvinced by the government’s new requirement for these schemes to set out plans for investing up to 5 per cent of their assets in their domestic projects, as trustees’ fiduciary responsibilities could come under threat.

Prudential reported itself last year to the Pensions Regulator, as a perfect storm of IT problems and coronavirus-led disruption pushed customers looking to cash out their additional voluntary contributions into long delays.

On the go: The health of UK defined benefit pension schemes edged upwards to a record high at the end of last year, according to Legal & General Investment Management.

On the go: Local Government Pension Scheme funds have been asked by the government to set out plans for investing up to 5 per cent of their assets in projects that support local areas, according to the new ‘Levelling up’ white paper.

On the go: Interest rate liability hedging activity surged by more than a quarter in the last three months of 2021, according to new data from BMO Global Asset Management, a jump which the asset manager attributed to Omicron-driven pessimism about the economy.

On the go: The Pension Protection Fund has appointed Hymans Robertson, LCP, Barnett Waddingham and PwC to provide transaction advice to schemes in assessment that are overfunded on a PPF basis.

ESG spotlight: A roundup of the latest news on environmental, social and governance initiatives, with the launching of a new carbon emissions template for pension schemes, and a new study highlighting savers’ demand for green pensions.

On the go: Trustees should think about the diversity of their scheme’s membership, and consider whether they are “inherently disadvantaging” some members with their decisions, according to David Fairs, the Pensions Regulator’s executive director for regulatory policy, analysis and advice.

On the go: Profit warnings issued by UK-listed companies with defined benefit pension schemes leapt by 69 per cent between the third and fourth quarters of 2021.

Podcast: Barnett Waddingham’s Danielle Markham and Teneo’s Simon Kew — two of the judges for the Pension and Investment Provider Awards 2022 — and LCP’s Stephen Budge, the architect of an award-winning entry in 2021, discuss how to achieve gold in one of the industry's most desired distinctions.