All articles by Ian Smith – Page 8

  • Opinion

    Editorial: Nothing new under the sun

    2013-10-03T00:00:00Z

    Does an investment strategy need to be new to be newsworthy? Is an old investment strategy applied to a new asset class worth reporting?

  • Opinion

    Editorial: Lessons from Norway

    2013-09-27T00:00:00Z

    Last week saw a four-hour strike by firefighters in England and Wales owing to changes to their pension terms which will force them to work for longer.

  • Features

    Rexam funding peak triggers risk reduction

    2013-09-27T00:00:00Z

    Rexam Pension Plan took advantage of a brief funding peak earlier this year to increase its inflation hedging and insure against equity losses, as more schemes implement trigger-based derisking strategies.

  • Features

    L&Q segments DC scheme to hone outcomes

    2013-09-19T00:00:00Z

    London and Quadrant Housing Trust has segmented its defined contribution scheme membership in an innovative review of whether its investment strategy and communication will create good member outcomes.

  • News

    How competition affects derisking opportunities

    2013-09-13T00:00:00Z

    News analysis: Reduced competition in the derisking market could limit value for schemes despite opportunities from rising gilt yields, Leadership summit delegates heard, while other market experts defended prices.

  • Opinion

    Editorial: Embracing apathy

    2013-09-13T00:00:00Z

    This year’s eight annual Leadership of Pensions Summit left in its wake quite a few lessons, and some surprises too, about how pension schemes and policymakers are meeting today’s industry challenges.

  • TfL graph
    News

    TfL weighs up fee bump from strategy shift

    2013-08-23T00:00:00Z

    TfL Pension Fund had its investment management expenses increase by almost a fifth in the year to March, partly due to a strategy shift that added eight investment managers.

  • Opinion

    Editorial: Freedom from want

    2013-08-23T00:00:00Z

    The reaction to last week’s TUC report on state pension reform understandably focused on the results which, the union held, supported its claim that £144 a week would leave the “vast majority of people” worse off.

  • Opinion

    Editorial: Speak softly and carry a big stick

    2013-08-20T00:00:00Z

    We may have taken our annual print break over the past three weeks, but online at pensionsweek.com we’ve ensured our summer holiday readers had plenty to browse through.

  • Features

    South Yorkshire bucks trend with equity allocation

    2013-08-02T00:00:00Z

    South Yorkshire Pension Authority has increased its allocation to equities over the past three years, concluding that stock selection within its equity portfolios helped it produce positive returns against the benchmark.

  • News

    Making good your scheme's common data shortfall

    2013-07-26T00:00:00Z

    News analysis: The Pensions Regulator's annual record-keeping survey, released earlier this week, demonstrated a lack of awareness among smaller schemes of their data obligations, but also contained hints about how to repair administrative faults.

  • Opinion

    Editorial: The politics of scale

    2013-07-12T00:00:00Z

    Another week, another few tweaks to the shape of the workplace pensions market.

  • Getty
    News

    Royal British Legion to expand Pie after £1m saving

    2013-07-11T00:00:00Z

    The Royal British Legion is working on a pension increase exchange offer for members coming up to retirement, after an exercise with the scheme’s pensioners last year knocked £1m off its deficit.

  • News

    Derbyshire reduces auto-enrolment comms burden

    2013-07-10T00:00:00Z

    Derbyshire County Council has taken steps to reduce its auto-enrolment communication costs, from record-cleansing to communicating through employers, as local authority schemes look to manage the cost of the reform.

  • Opinion

    Editorial: The metaphysics of quality

    2013-07-08T00:00:00Z

    Last week, the government issued a call for evidence on quality standards in defined contribution schemes.

  • Features

    Bedfordshire offers representation for academies

    2013-07-04T00:00:00Z

    Bedfordshire Pension Fund has decided to offer academies “observer” status on its pension committee, with the schools representing a growing and increasingly scrutinised proportion of local authority scheme membership.

  • Opinion

    Editorial: Time to review your auto-enrolment spend?

    2013-07-01T00:00:00Z

    The spending review seems to have passed by without directly impacting workplace pension schemes.

  • News

    Fidelity to launch mastertrust on employer demand

    2013-06-28T00:00:00Z

    Fidelity Worldwide Investment is to launch a mastertrust in response to demand it has seen from blue-chip companies for tougher governance and bespoke investment strategies.

  • Opinion

    Editorial: Informed debate

    2013-06-25T00:00:00Z

    Over the past six months Pensions Week has been putting effort into driving online debate on the issues that regularly grace these pages.

  • Features

    West Sussex turns off private equity tap

    2013-06-20T00:00:00Z

    West Sussex Pension Fund has decided to reduce over time its private equity allocation, concluding its performance does not justify its liquidity risk and the “luck” involved in manager selection.