April 2024
18Apr

British trade unions lose appeal over $24 billion cost of pension reform

Two British trade unions on Wednesday lost an appeal over changes to public sector pensions they argued allows the government to unlawfully pass the 19-billion-pound ($23.7 billion) cost of pension reforms on to workers. The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) and the British Medical Association (BMA) said Britain's finance ministry was effectively making members of newer pension schemes foot the bill for its own mistake. A judge at London's High Court had dismissed the two unions' case in March last year. The...

April 18, 2024
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17Apr

UK pension schemes and insurers boost sustainable investments

95% of UK pension funds and insurers in a survey said they expect to increase allocations to renewable energy assets over the next five years. According to the survey commissioned by AlphaReal, a specialist manager of secure income real assets, 35% of respondents said they will increase allocations by up to 10%. About 44% said they will raise allocations by between 10% and 20%, while 16% will boost by more than 20%. The remainder of respondents said there will be no...

April 17, 2024
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16Apr

UK. Wave of retirement is starving UK stocks of pension fund investment, warns Goldman Sachs

British businesses risk being starved of investment as pension funds sell off assets to meet a wave of retirement claims, Goldman Sachs has warned. Analysts at the Wall Street bank have sounded the alarm over investment levels flatlining in the UK after research found final salary schemes are selling almost as many British stocks as other pension funds are buying. This has meant that UK-listed companies are receiving just £500m in net investment from pension funds each year. Goldman Sachs said defined...

April 16, 2024
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12Apr

Progress and priorities: reviewing sustainability in key pension systems

Pension funds are long-term investors and their ability to generate long-term returns relies on the performance of the markets and economies in which they invest. Because sustainability factors such as climate change and biodiversity loss threaten the performance of the markets and economies on which they rely for financial returns, pension funds have a responsibility to consider whether sustainability-related risks will inhibit their ability to protect long-term value and provide an adequate pension to their members or beneficiaries. Accordingly,...

April 12, 2024
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12Apr

UK. TPR finds trustees are taking action on climate risks and opportunities

Pension trustees are acting to address climate risks and opportunities, with more than 60 per cent of pension schemes included in The Pensions Regulator’s (TPR) latest review having some form of net-zero goal with a target date of 2050 or earlier. Following the introduction of new climate-related disclosures for schemes with more than £1bn in assets under management in 2022, TPR undertook an analysis of a selection of reports in an effort to help raise standards across the industry. This review...

April 12, 2024
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11Apr

UK. Public demands government action on pensions and climate

According to a poll by responsible investment organisations ShareAction, Make My Money Matter and Finance Innovation Lab, 77% of people believe the government should do more to ensure pension holders have additional retirement savings, while 65% think ministers should encourage pension funds to tackle climate change. The organisations unveiled a five-point plan, Better pensions for all and a sustainable, productive economy: Proposals for reform, which they said would prevent the UK from “sleepwalking” into a pensions crisis. It includes increasing the...

April 11, 2024
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10Apr

The country with the most generous retirement in the world

The UK state pension notoriously pays a meagre income that barely covers the basic cost of living in retirement. Even those who receive the full £11,500 a year face a shortfall of almost £3,000 on what is required for a ‘minimum’ standard of living, according to pension industry guidelines. But are British pensioners really any worse off than their counterparts in Europe and around the world? And just how generous are state pension schemes in other countries? With the help of pensions firm...

April 10, 2024
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09Apr

Pensions giant to create UK superfund in boost for Hunt

Britain’s biggest long-term savings and retirement business is drawing up plans to launch a new superfund to back fast-growing companies in a boost for Jeremy Hunt. Phoenix, which owns insurer Standard Life, is in the early stages of creating a multibillion-pound investment vehicle that insiders say will help turbocharge investment in high-growth sectors and lift pension returns. This includes pooling cash to invest in life sciences and fintech businesses, as well as injecting long-term venture capital into unlisted companies in the...

April 9, 2024
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09Apr

UK. Cover story: Pensions are on life support – but how do we save them?

We are in the midst of a pensions crisis. For a long time, experts have warned that UK adults aren’t saving anywhere near enough money to ensure a comfortable, or even moderate, retirement. But now it feels as though we’ve reached breaking point. If pensions were a person, it’s probably safe to say they’d be on life support. Let’s take a quick look at the facts. Around a fifth of working-age private-sector employees — approximately 3.5 million people — do not pay anything...

April 9, 2024
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08Apr

UK. Women’s pension pots ‘worth half of mens’

The comparison with male pensions find women’s savings are dwarfed, with men’s pensions average around £75,000. It was also found that men are ‘more likely to manage their own pensions’ than women. Independent research conducted on behalf of Handelsbanken Wealth & Asset Management on gender and the wealth gap. Nearly a third of women were found to have pensions below £25,000 and only one in 10 women have a pension exceeding £100,000, whole this is true for nearly a third...

April 8, 2024
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