Latest articles from Ian Smith

Unite ratchets up Ford legal battle

Visteon protest 1

Unite is engaged in a legal arms race with Ford Britain – on behalf of ex-Visteon UK workers – after bringing in a more senior and expensive lawyer

Shared services deliver council pension savings

Shared services are set to revolutionise local government pension savings, as the first merged project announces it has already achieved 60% of targeted savings since its October launch

Hutton privately rueful on CPI shift

Lord Hutton personally regretted the shift to CPI for accrued rights, according to a public sector expert

Police pay review calls for early retirement regime

Senior police officers should be offered tax incentives and “fair terms” for early retirement, in a dramatic overhaul of the pension regulations recommended by an independent report

Members given six-month reprieve to process funds

The government has introduced a six-month grace period for scheme members to process their pension payments and additional voluntary contributions

Unions claim victory in NHS reform

The government has bowed to union pressure to guarantee the NHS pension scheme for all staff employed by the new GP consortia

Total DC fund fees will double to £2.5bn by 2020

Defined contribution (DC) fund fees will more than double by 2020, according to market research seen exclusively by schemeXpert.com

Fiduciary management evaluation tool unveiled

Fund manager analyst Inalytics is piloting its fiduciary manager assessment tool with a “large sophisticated client”, ahead of its launch later this year

PPF admin levy to decrease on budget restructure

The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has said ongoing restructuring of its expenditure process will lead to future decreases in its administration levy.

DC assets to hit £1trn by 2020

Defined contribution (DC) assets are expected to reach £1trn by 2020, with highest growth (61%) in schemes with more than 1,000 members, according to a survey