All Gilts articles – Page 7

  • News

    Barclays Bank coughs up £750m in unusual DRC move

    2020-09-18T00:00:00Z

    In an unusual arrangement, Barclays Bank UK Retirement Fund’s deficit recovery plan remains on track through a self-investment, as the scheme subscribed to a £750m bond issued by an entity of the banking group.

  • Podcasts

    Podcast: DB schemes could be ‘doomed to failure’ by new funding code

    2020-09-04T00:00:00Z

    Podcast: Defined benefit schemes could be “doomed to failure by measures that are designed to help them”, says Baroness Ros Altmann of the proposed new funding code. She is joined by SEI’s client strategy director Alistair Jones to discuss that issue, as well as the challenges faced by master trusts, and the increasingly bizarre McCloud remedy that, though intended to tackle age discrimination, has been accused of age discrimination.

  • Getty Images
    News

    USS strikes £300m deal with with affordable housing investors

    2020-07-14T00:00:00Z

    The Universities Superannuation Scheme has entered into a £300m 45-year debt facility arrangement with a real estate investment trust, funding shared ownership housing developments.

  • News

    Market volatility leads to attractive returns in low-risk credit

    2020-07-13T00:00:00Z

    On the go: Pension schemes should consider adopting high-quality, low-duration credit strategies such as asset-backed securities as an alternative to traditional bond allocations when looking to derisk their portfolios, according to a new report from Aon.

  • News

    Scottish Widows looks to overcome long-term market challenges

    2020-07-02T00:00:00Z

    Scottish Widows has announced plans to enhance its asset allocation strategy in response to lower projected returns and potentially long-lasting volatility as a result of the coronavirus crisis, following a strategic review conducted earlier this year.

  • Opinion

    Pension funds face a dilemma if negative rates materialise

    2020-07-01T00:00:00Z

    The era of low interest rates has created challenges for trustees that could become acute and require redress if low interest rates become negative, writes Pavan Bhardwaj of Ross Trustees.

  • Features

    Widening spread on buyouts makes self-sufficiency harder to justify

    2020-05-20T00:00:00Z

    Data crunch: An already booming market for pensions insurance has received a two-pronged boost from the coronavirus pandemic: the turmoil rippling through the economy is providing schemes with the best ever pricing for buy-in deals, just as the demand for shedding investment risk is at its greatest.

  • News

    DB deficits fall £7bn in April as equity markets recover

    2020-05-12T00:00:00Z

    On the go: The aggregate deficit of the 5,422 defined benefit schemes in the Pension Protection Fund 7800 Index fell by £7.4bn in April.

  • News

    Covid-19: Markets bounce back; bulk annuity prices drop

    2020-03-25T00:00:00Z

    While the FTSE 100 registered the biggest one-day gain since 2008, bulk annuities seem to be significantly more affordable than they were before. At the same time, alternative assets have not seen the biggest impact yet. Read our round-up of pensions and finance news about the coronavirus outbreak.

  • News

    RPI to drop 1% per year with proposed reform

    2020-03-11T00:00:00Z

    The UK Statistics Authority is proposing to align the retail price index with the consumer price index including housing costs, which is expected to lower its annual rate by an average of 1 percentage point.

  • News

    DB deficits rise £50bn as coronavirus hits markets

    2020-03-10T00:00:00Z

    On the go: The aggregate deficit of the 5,422 defined benefit schemes in the Pension Protection Fund 7800 Index rose by £49.9bn in February.

  • News

    RPI reform consultation to be published in March

    2020-01-14T00:00:00Z

    On the go: A consultation on changes to the retail price index will be published alongside the UK Budget on March 11, the chancellor of the exchequer has announced.

  • Features

    Anglo American dials down equities even further

    2019-05-07T00:00:00Z

    The UK defined benefit schemes of mining multinational Anglo American have halved their already minimal exposure to equities, as the plans near self-sufficiency and reduced risk.

  • News

    FTSE 350 pension deficit reaches 18-month high

    2019-04-04T00:00:00Z

    On the go: The UK’s 350 largest listed companies have seen the deficit of their defined benefit pension schemes reach an 18-month high, increasing from £45bn at the end of February to £55bn by the end of March, according to Mercer.

  • News

    Spring Statement: Government responds to RPI flaws

    2019-03-14T00:00:00Z

    On the go: The government is still considering whether to take action on problems with the retail price index, it was announced after the Spring Statement yesterday.

  • Opinion

    Hedging Brexit: An unfortunate necessity for trustees

    2019-01-01T00:00:00Z

    Politicians have failed to give pension funds the certainty they need in their preparations for Brexit, and trustees must now attempt to insulate their portfolios against a number of threats, writes Kames Capital’s Stephen Jones

  • News

    Schemes shift attention from interest rates to inflation hedging

    2018-10-31T00:00:00Z

    On the go: Inflation hedging has seen a sharp rise with activity up by 22 per cent in the third quarter of 2018, to around £24.2bn. Total interest rate hedging activity was around £29.2bn in the third quarter, a 1 per cent fall according to the BMO Global Asset Management.

  • Barbara Saunders
    Opinion

    UK gilts: The inconvenient truth for schemes

    2018-09-24T00:00:00Z

    From the blog: Gilts have been a perennial favourite for UK pension schemes, not simply for their liability-matching properties, but also because of the returns they have delivered for schemes in years when markets have wobbled.

  • Bloomberg
    Features

    PwC schemes cut property from portfolio

    2018-02-20T00:00:00Z

    PwC's two defined benefit pension schemes have removed property from their investment strategies and made a number of changes to their fixed income allocations.

  • Hugh Nolan
    Opinion

    The death of DB is yet to be felt

    2017-12-19T00:00:00Z

    The full impact of the decline of defined benefit schemes will hit many people hard, warns the Society of Pension Professionals’ Hugh Nolan.