November 2022
03Nov

The Story of UK Pensions: An engaging guide to the pensions system

By Matthew Rhodes This book explains the wonderful world of UK pensions. It starts with a brief history of how the system has developed over time, covering the different arrangements provided by the private and public sectors, as well as the State. It then investigates the system in more detail, explaining some of the complexitiies and why pensions so often make news headlines. This book is suitable for anyone - whether you know nothing about pensions, or are someone in...

November 3, 2022
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02Nov

FCA extends pensions dashboard deadline by two months

FCA regulated pension providers have been given an extra two months to comply with the regulator's pensions dashboard rules. In the final rules for the regulations published today (November 1), the Financial Conduct Authority said providers will now have until August 31 for implementation, to align with the government’s extension to a deadline on occupational pension schemes. The FCA has also extended the connection deadline for providers with fewer than 5,000 pots in accumulation and who rely on a third-party integrated...

November 2, 2022
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October 2022
27Oct

Don’t Count on Sunak to Protect Your UK Pension

Liz Truss lasted only 44 days as UK prime minister. But her legacy in respect of your pension will almost certainly endure for decades. It is important to understand how this might affect you and how best to respond. One of Truss’s last acts as PM was to reaffirm the government’s commitment to raise the state pension each year by the higher of earnings, inflation or 2.5%. The more fiscally hawkish new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been more circumspect...

October 27, 2022
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26Oct

UK. TPR publishes consolidated enforcement powers

The Pensions Regulator has published its new enforcement policy, which contains new powers awarded in the Pension Schemes Act 2021, and replaces and consolidates compliance and enforcement policies governing defined benefit, defined contribution and public sector pension schemes. Amid a raft of announcements, TPR also published responses to a consultation issued after the PSA 2021, which came into force in order to provide clarity on how the watchdog intends to use its new powers. “Feedback from stakeholders also highlighted a need...

October 26, 2022
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25Oct

Pensions regulator plays down LDI risk to EU

Eiopa doubts UK gilt market chaos could occur to same degree in Europe Read also Swiss regulator expects underfunding for pension funds facing volatility The European Union’s top pensions and insurance regulator is cautiously optimistic that the chaos suffered by UK pension funds will not be crossing the Channel any time soon. When government bond prices moved against them in late September, the funds were left scrambling to meet large margin calls on derivatives and leveraged repo positions. “Our insurance and...

October 25, 2022
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25Oct

Swiss regulator expects underfunding for pension funds facing volatility

The Swiss occupational pension supervisory commission – OAK BV – expects that a number of pension funds will end up underfunded at the end of the year as a result of market volatility and negative returns. Some pension funds may decide to ultimately trigger restructuring measures, depending on the specific situation of the scheme. Funding ratios of Swiss pension schemes in fact continued to fall this year, from 103.4% at the end of June to 99.5% at the end of September,...

October 25, 2022
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24Oct

UK. Inflation sparks a new era of pensions inequality

The generosity of public sector pensions was a compensation for low salaries. However, this gap is narrowing. The average worker in the private sector earned £622 a week in the year to August, according to an IDR analyst. The average public sector worker, excluding those who worked in finance, earned £593. Former public servants will also enjoy two layers of taxpayer-funded inflation protection next year, assuming the “triple lock” state pensions are maintained. The policy pledges to increase the state pension...

October 24, 2022
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24Oct

UK parliament panel probes defined benefit pension schemes over safeguards

A British parliament panel on Monday launched an inquiry into the defined benefit pension schemes with liability-driven investments (LDIs) to ascertain whether they have adequate regulation to protect pension funds' value. The work and pensions committee inquiry will examine the impact of the recent volatility in gilt yields and intervention by the Bank of England (BoE) as well as the role of the pensions regulator in monitoring the use of LDIs and whether these schemes have proper oversight arrangements in...

October 24, 2022
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21Oct

P&I Research Center. Pension Risk Transfer

By Valerie Ge Over the past 12 months through June, $57.4 billion in liabilities were involved in pension risk transfer deals. Pension buyout transactions reached $25.3 billion, or 44.1% of the total, followed by buy-ins of $23.2 billion, 40.4%, and longevity swaps of $7.5 billion, or 13.1% of the total. Buyout transactions increased 93.3% from $2.9 billion in the fi rst quarter but buy-in transactions declined to $2.4 billion from $7.3 billion. Source: @s3 prod pionline 264 views

October 21, 2022
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20Oct

EU urged to help pension funds on margin calls stress

Derivatives trade body calls for access to central bank-backed facility to avoid fire-sales European pension funds should have access to a central bank-backed facility as a last resort to help them avoid the fire-sale of assets forced on UK pension managers, the derivatives industry’s main trade body has said. Read also Dutch central bank urges pension funds to guard against UK-style crisis The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (Isda) on Wednesday called for a system that would allow pension funds to more...

October 20, 2022
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