All Irwin Mitchell articles
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FeaturesWill DC consolidation present master trusts with crock of gold?
Within a decade, some 15 or more master trusts will have disappeared. Today, 36 players jockey for pole position. What will this huge transition mean for trustees, sponsors, and members, asks Stephane Hawthorne?
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FeaturesWhy do savers continue to misunderstand their pensions?
Analysis: The pensions industry spends extensively on member communications, but 48 per cent of employees do not know how much their employer is paying into their pension, according to a survey by The People’s Pension.
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NewsHigh Court hands De La Rue victory over £20m pensions bill
De La Rue, the banknotes manufacturer, has avoided adding £20m to its pension scheme’s liabilities after a judge ruled in its favour over how certain members’ deferred benefits should be revalued.
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NewsBritvic reduces deficit contributions on back of index change
Soft drinks manufacturer Britvic has seen a reduction in its pension liabilities following a change to the inflation index used by the Britvic Pension Plan.
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NewsIs social policy essential for schemes to promote change?
Integrating environmental, social and governance credentials into pensions has become increasingly common, yet deciding whether schemes should adopt a specific policy on social matters has become a point of contention.
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NewsOmbudsman criticises Railways scheme for maladministration
The Pensions Ombudsman has partly upheld a complaint by a member of the Railways Pension Scheme against its trustee and administrator, RPMI, after finding maladministration in the scheme’s decision to suspend a member’s pension between July and December 2018.
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NewsGovt plans green bonds issue, but should schemes take the plunge?
The UK government has an ambitious climate and environmental agenda and is set to issue its first green gilt in September 2021, with at least one more issue before the end of the year. Green gilts to the value of £15bn will be issued in the 2021-22 financial year.
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NewsTreasury slammed for McCloud errors, but members will foot the bill
The Public Accounts Committee has issued a scathing report highlighting HM Treasury’s failure to predict the numerous problems stemming from 2011-15 public sector reforms, warning its mistakes will take “generations” to resolve.
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Experts dismiss national pension fund proposal
Analysis: Experts have largely poured scorn on a highly controversial proposal to create a gigantic national sovereign fund by merging public schemes and then mopping up private plans as well.
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NewsDB schemes can be severely impacted by Libor closure
The end of the London interbank offered rate at the end of this year is expected to have huge consequences for defined benefit schemes, which historically have been using it for different asset class investments and even for managers’ benchmarks.
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TPS phased withdrawal plan arrives too late for hundreds of schools
Teachers’ organisations and pension professionals have given a lukewarm welcome to the Department for Education’s proposal to allow independent schools to retain Teachers’ Pension Scheme membership for existing staff, while at the same time offering private plans for new staff.
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One in five teachers may have incorrect pension entitlements
One in five teachers may be at risk of receiving incorrect information about their pension entitlements, with discrepancies also likely to be found in other decentralised public sector pension schemes with multiple employers.
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Should ‘too-big-to-fail’ schemes be nationalised?
Analysis: The current pandemic-led economic crisis, coupled with the fact that some of the biggest defined benefit schemes are sponsored by quasi-governmental institutions, has led to suggestions that the UK government should nationalise these pension funds.
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Barclays Bank coughs up £750m in unusual DRC move
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.
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PPF levy expected to increase due to Covid-19 impact
As insolvencies ramp up and more defined benefit schemes are expected to end up at the Pension Protection Fund, the lifeboat might need to increase its levy to face a multibillion-pound hit, amid several other solutions, analysis from LCP shows.
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TPR in discussions with Plumbing trustees over governance failures
The Pensions Regulator has been in discussions with the trustees of the Plumbing and Mechanical Services Industry Pension Scheme, who face criticism for governance failures amid a long-running debacle that could send plumbers into bankruptcy.
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South Yorks breezes through Covid but warns of potential danger ahead
The South Yorkshire Pensions Authority is reducing its exposure to equity market risk, after it escaped the Covid-19 crisis largely unscathed.
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Are pensions the answer to UK’s £1tn infrastructure gap?
A solution for the regeneration of Britain’s infrastructure could come from pensions, as superfunds could help plug the UK’s £1tn infrastructure gap. However, specialists believe it will be difficult for schemes to achieve the scale needed for these investments to be successful.
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Lockdown spikes fears of democratic deficit in LGPS
As the Covid-19 crisis unfolds, there could be a worrying governance and democratic deficit in some local authority pension schemes, with only 27 per cent of councils having virtual pension committee meetings.
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PodcastsPodcast: 'Crystal ball-gazing' makes ethical investment tough for trustees
Trustees aiming to make ethical investment decisions can find it tough to justify them without recourse to a crystal ball, as the legal requirements are ill-defined, says Irwin Mitchell’s pensions partner Penny Cogher. In this episode she’s joined by independent consultant and long-time pensions expert Malcolm McLean for a discussion covering capital-backed endgame deals, the complications of new insolvency laws, and some morally dubious LGPS investments.