All News articles – Page 251

  • Getty Images
    News

    Unilever launches guidance tool, but fear of giving advice still stops many

    2016-06-08T00:00:00Z

    The Unilever Pension Fund has introduced an online initiative using example members to help savers plan their benefits, ahead of a clarification on the distinction between advice and guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority, HM Treasury and the Pensions Regulator.

  • News

    Recent pension deficit reductions are unlikely to be sustainable

    2016-06-07T00:00:00Z

    A survey of FTSE 100 companies’ pension schemes showed that during 2015 the overall pension deficit was reduced by £15bn, mostly by lower salary assumptions and higher discount rates, but experts say the trends responsible for the reduction have now reversed.

  • Staveley agrees £73.6m recovery plan
    News

    Staveley agrees £73.6m recovery plan

    2016-06-03T00:00:00Z

    The Staveley Pension Scheme has agreed a new, £73.6m recovery plan with its sponsoring employer after its most recent actuarial valuation found a £100m deficit.

  • News

    More detail emerges on pensions dashboard

    2016-06-02T00:00:00Z

    The working group charged with devising a pensions dashboard – a single destination where consumers will be able to view all their retirement savings pots – has released its view of what it should look like.

  • News

    Deluge of information stifles retirement choices

    2016-06-02T00:00:00Z

    An excess of information on the pension freedoms risks poor outcomes for “procrastinating” defined contribution savers, experts have warned, meaning the industry must improve member communication and engagement.

  • Getty Images
    News

    What will British Steel's rule changes mean for pensions?

    2016-06-02T00:00:00Z

    Experts agree the changes being proposed to the British Steel Pension Scheme will impact salary-related pensions more broadly, but differ on whether the long-term effects will necessarily be negative.

  • Getty Images
    News

    Should you pay higher DC contributions to spur retirement?

    2016-06-01T00:00:00Z

    Any Other Business: Lower employer contributions to defined contribution pension schemes can lead to “massive” challenges in paving the way for older workers to retire and injecting new blood into a business, experts have said. 

  • News

    DB schemes' negative cash flow matters, but is not a crisis

    2016-06-01T00:00:00Z

    A survey by Hymans Robertson has found that 50 per cent of FTSE 350 defined benefit schemes are or soon will be cash flow negative, and that chief financial officers are more worried about forced disinvestment than trustees.

  • Getty Images
    News

    Switching BSPS indexation to CPI could set legal precedent

    2016-05-27T00:00:00Z

    A four-week public consultation on the British Steel Pension Scheme launched by the government this week could pave the way for an indexation switch aimed at significantly reducing Tata Steel’s pension liabilities, which could reverberate across the private sector.

  • The Specialist: DC investment
    News

    State of the nation: What's going on in DC accumulation?

    2016-05-27T00:00:00Z

    One of the spectres that hung over the announcement of freedom and choice in the 2014 Budget was the fear the proposition would be so attractive people would abandon their defined benefit schemes to make the most of the flexibility.

  • News

    Proposed early exit charge cap gets mixed response

    2016-05-26T00:00:00Z

    The Financial Conduct Authority yesterday proposed capping exit charges at 1 per cent of pot value for existing contracts, while banning them altogether for future contracts.

  • News

    Illiquidity premiums move up agenda, but questions over cash flow remain

    2016-05-26T00:00:00Z

    The new market liquidity regime will make it harder for pension schemes to access credit, says a new report, which recommends they take steps – in particular, to exploit illiquidity premiums – to protect themselves.  

  • News

    Hogg Robinson pays £12.8m in rectification case

    2016-05-26T00:00:00Z

    Corporate travel company Hogg Robinson has incurred £10.5m in past service costs and £2.3m in legal costs following rectification of a mistake in a deed of amendment to the scheme.

  • News

    Hidden charges weigh pension pots down

    2016-05-25T00:00:00Z

    Pensions are being hit by more than 100 costs and charges, many of them hidden, which are potentially taking as much as a third off the gains of a pension over its lifetime, a study by the Transparency Task Force has found.

  • News

    Field’s proposal for scheme deficits bill raises pension cut fears

    2016-05-25T00:00:00Z

    Former pensions minister Steve Webb has warned that a new bill proposed by Work and Pensions Committee chair Frank Field to deal with DB deficits – including by introducing flexible benefits – is a “worrying” development that could undermine people’s confidence in the pension system.

  • News

    Companies slow to update life cover as LTA bites

    2016-05-20T00:00:00Z

    A recent report found only a quarter of the surveyed companies have excepted life assurance policies in place, despite potential disruption by the new lifetime and annual allowance limits. 

  • On track to reduce NIC impact
    News

    Network Rail plans £19m savings following NI cost hike

    2016-05-20T00:00:00Z

    Network Rail expects to save around £19m annually following a swath of amendments to two of its schemes to mitigate the increased costs of contracting-out cessation, as many schemes either absorb the cost or close.

  • News

    Select committee flags Lisa as AE opt-out concern

    2016-05-19T00:00:00Z

    A recent report from the Work and Pensions Committee has raised concern that the Lifetime Isa could lure people out of pensions, but the industry is divided over whether Lisas are a threat or potential boon for auto-enrolment.

  • News

    Nilgosc to allow lump sum contributions

    2016-05-18T00:00:00Z

    The Northern Ireland Local Government Officers Superannuation Committee plans to ask for upfront deficit contributions for this year’s LGPS valuation from its employer members as the public sector in Northern Ireland shrinks.

  • News

    Cash flow is important but not pressing, experts say

    2016-05-17T00:00:00Z

    For the first time, the Pensions Regulator explicitly included cash flow considerations in its annual funding statement, published last week. Industry insiders welcomed the move, but said the statement has raised other equally important concerns.