Latest articles from Angus Peters

DWP calls for evidence on Nest decumulation services

The Department for Work and Pensions has called for evidence on a proposal to allow Nest to provide decumulation services for its members, and to let it offer services to individuals, employers and other schemes.

DB taskforce encourages credit innovation to tackle deficits

Finding solutions to the defined benefit funding crisis will require the pensions industry to “challenge conventional thinking”, the chair of the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association’s new DB taskforce has said.

Finalised IORP II may not make it to UK after Brexit vote

A provisional final text of the EU’s revised Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision directive was published last week, as the UK’s presumed exit from the bloc cast doubt over its implementation.

Lord Willetts: More progress is needed for adequate DC provision

Pension providers must build on the success of auto-enrolment and embrace technological solutions if they want to tackle declining rates of saving among the ‘DC generation’, Lord Willetts said at a conference this week.

Experts eye hedging and CPI as UK DB deficit up £170bn in weeks

UK defined benefit pension deficits grew by £170bn over six weeks in the run-up to the EU referendum, jumping to £900bn as market volatility following the result put further strain on funding positions.

Carclo deficit highlights pitfalls of equity exposure

Technical plastics manufacturer Carclo is adding liability-driven investment mandates and continued support for diversified growth funds to its defined benefit scheme portfolio, after poor equity market performance saw its deficit almost double.

LDI crucial part of portfolio despite low yields, experts say

Schemes must not leave themselves vulnerable to interest rate risk by ignoring seemingly expensive liability-driven investment strategies, according to panellists at a Pensions Expert event on LDI held last week.

MPS mines for income with alternative credit and shipping

Mineworkers Pension Scheme

The Mineworkers Pension Scheme is hunting for income with new allocations to shipping and special situations debt, alongside increased exposure to private debt and property.

Active debt management key to exploiting bond opportunities

Schemes hunting for cash flow in a record-low gilt yield environment are turning to corporate bonds, emerging markets and active management of their debt portfolios, a study has revealed.

Will PLSA’s DB consultation bolster embattled industry?

From the blog: The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association has called for evidence to support its Defined Benefit Taskforce, as record-low gilt yields pile yet more pressure on the industry.

The taskforce, which was launched in March this year, has said it believes solutions to the challenges facing DB may lie in efficiency savings, a greater understanding of employers’ capital allocations, and addressing “binary legislative outcomes” when deciding whether a fund will enter the Pension Protection Fund.

While these are perfectly valid issues to address, naysayers might be tempted to argue that the scale of DB challenges far outreaches the scope of these criteria.

Click here to read the full blog post.