All Sackers articles – Page 5
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Opinion
Schemes must be prepared for an interventionist regulator
Defined benefit trustees and employers should both expect to see more of the Pensions Regulator in the coming years, says Sackers’ Peter Murphy, as its new approach and suite of powers look set to target scheme funding and corporate transactions.
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Features
Making ESG part and parcel of the DC investment process
Earlier this year, the Environmental Audit Committee wrote to the UK’s largest 25 pension schemes to ask how they manage the risks climate change poses to retirement savings.
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News
Government sets out proposals for trustee ESG investment duties
Trustees will be expected to publish a statement on how they take account of scheme members’ ethical views, if proposed requirements floated in a government consultation are implemented.
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News
SNP bill seeks PPF support for orphan liabilities
A private members’ bill submitted by Scottish National Party MP Alan Brown last week could see the Pension Protection Fund taking on so-called orphan liabilities from multi-employer pension schemes.
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News
Plumber wins workers' rights case
The Supreme Court has upheld a verdict that Gary Smith, a former contractor who carried out work for Pimlico Plumbers between 2005 and 2011, was indeed a worker at the company and was consequently entitled to workers’ rights there.
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Features
Commodity of the future: Does water have a place in pension portfolios?
In North America, an inconspicuous object the size of a tennis ball has yielded significant returns for investors in what might be considered the world's cheapest, and also the most critical, commodity.
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News
Seeking members' ethical views could muddy DB waters, experts say
The Environmental Audit Committee has proposeda requirement for schemes to actively seek the views of their members when producing their statement of investment principles, a move experts say could complicate matters for defined benefit trustees.
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Opinion
How can schemes assess employer covenant strength?
Darren Redmayne chuckles good-naturedly, at what must be the thousandth time a journalist has asked whether the FTSE 100’s recently revealed accounting surplus means their defined benefit pension problems have gone away.
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News
Salvus snaps up Complete in £7m mastertrust consolidation deal
Salvus Master Trust has unveiled plans to acquire the members and assets of the £7m Complete Master Trust, as the sector’s consolidation drive begins to gather pace.
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News
High Court rules against statutory limit for overpayment recovery
The High Court has ruled that defined benefit schemes are not subject to a time limit on their ability to recoup pension overpayments. Such a recovery must be carried out equitably by altering future payments, however.
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Opinion
Is ESG on course to become the norm in DC defaults?
Late last year the UK government said it was “minded” to make pension fund trustees produce environmental, social and governance statements.
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News
TPR raises bar with mastertrust code of practice
A new authorisation code requiring mastertrusts to demonstrate their financial sustainability may force a number of providers from the market, experts have speculated.
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OpinionDB white paper generates as many questions as answers
The political posturing of criminal sanctions for employers looks set to make bad law, argues Sackers’ Janet Brown, and a crucial question of resource still hangs over the white paper’s many sensible suggestions.
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Opinion
Is ESG on course to become the norm in DC defaults?
High profile corporate governance failures, campaigns against the use of plastics, and US pension funds criticised for holding gun manufacturers after the latest school shooting – a powerful combination of recent events has pushed environmental, social and governance investing further up the institutional agenda.
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News
Hammersmith & Fulham weighs up fossil fuel divestment
The £1bn London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham Superannuation Fund is discussing whether to lower its fossil fuel exposure as part of its next investment strategy review.
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News
MPs probe pension funds on climate risk amid wider ESG push
MPs are probing pension funds on their approach to climate change risk, as experts expect a ‘multi-pronged attack’ to push environmental concerns higher up trustee agendas.
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NewsSainsbury’s tackles bills with DB scheme merger
Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s is hoping to save on pension costs by combining its two defined benefit schemes, a move advisers say can also bring strategic alignment for the sponsor.
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FeaturesGeneral Medical Council swallows DB closure pill
The General Medical Council is set to close its defined benefit scheme to future accrual from April 1 2018, and is in talks with the trustees regarding additional funding.
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News
Post Office workers’ scheme agrees £450m buy-in
The Royal Mail Pension Plan has agreed a £450m bulk annuity transaction to insure the liabilities of its Post Office Limited section.
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NewsHigh Court backs employers in Wedgwood dispute
The High Court has ruled in favour of participating employers in the Wedgwood Group Pension Plan, who terminated their liability to contribute to the scheme in 2006.