July 2024
19Jul

King Charles III’s speech highlights U.K. retirement plans under new Labour government

King Charles III unveiled a “surprise” focus on the U.K.’s retirement market in his first King’s Speech — and the first under the new Labour government — on July 17, with the aim of strengthening investment by the country’s plans. In the speech, which outlines the government’s legislative agenda for the upcoming parliamentary year and sets out rules it aims to implement, the king said that “stability will be the cornerstone of my government’s economic policy and every decision will...

July 19, 2024
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17Jul

UK. The new Labour Government and pensions: the employer perspective

The Pensions & Lifetime Savings team here at Burges Salmon has been closely following the UK’s general election and recently posted this passle on what the pension industry should expect from the new Labour Government. But what are the particular implications for Employers? Ahead of tomorrow’s Kings Speech, which we hope will offer greater clarity on the new Government’s immediate pensions priorities, here are some thoughts on key topics that Employers should be looking out for: The DB Funding Code Scheme funding is of course...

July 17, 2024
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17Jul

UK. CDC benefits may be 50% greater than those offered by DC, says LCP

The expected benefits offered by collective defined contribution (CDC) schemes could be 50% greater than those offered by defined contribution (DC) schemes, research from Lane Clark & Peacock (LCP) finds. The consultancy examined 2,500 simulations looking at a 43-year-old saver beginning a 25-year career, with the assumption of a 12% annual contribution rate. Its analysis compared the expected retirement pension as a proportion of the final salary for a typical CDC scheme and DC scheme and found CDC benefits could...

July 17, 2024
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15Jul

Pensions policy under the UK’s new Government

The Labour Party returned to office for the first time in 14 years after the UK general election on 4 July 2024. Our briefing note collates what Labour politicians said about pensions policy in the heat of the election campaign, in the run-up to it, and during their first few days in government. Pension investments/consolidation: Like her predecessor, the new Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has indicated that she wants more pension assets to be invested in UK “productive capital”, and lists this...

July 15, 2024
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12Jul

UK. State pensioners issued major update over DWP starting to ‘means testing’

State pensioners have been told the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) State Pensions payments "can't be means tested". A former DWP employee says means-testing will never happen due to the complexity of the contributory benefit. The insider told the Daily Record: “What is overlooked is the fact that people pay cash into the State Pension scheme in the form of Voluntary Contributions. So you are not going to pay cash into a scheme unless you are entitled to the payment of...

July 12, 2024
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12Jul

Sustainable Investing in Pensions: Top Tips for Sponsors of Pension Schemes

 By Accounting for Sustainability This top tips guidance is written for organizations that sponsor a pension scheme on the why and how to engage with your pension trustees on sustainable investing. Just as more and more companies are embedding social and environmental risk and opportunity into strategy and decision making, it is vital that their pension schemes follow suit. The impact that climate change and other environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks can have on value and returns is driving changes across...

July 12, 2024
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11Jul

UK. Wish list for new Pensions Minister

The new pensions minister, Emma Reynolds, must address the key challenges of adequacy, sustainability and intergenerational fairness facing the industry and the millions of savers across the UK as a priority, says Hymans Robertson. The leading pensions and financial services consultancy also says, it would like to see the new government deliver on the key pensions’ initiatives that are underway as the firm lays out its pensions policy wish list. Commenting on the need for rapid action from the new...

July 11, 2024
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10Jul

UK sets out plans for National Wealth Fund

UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves has launched a National Wealth Fund (NWF) to unlock private investments in “green and growth industries”. The Labour government has allocated £7.3 billion to the initiative, which will be allocated through the existing UK Infrastructure Bank so investments can start being made immediately. The Treasury said it had, alongside the department for energy security and net zero, convened a meeting with the Green Finance Institute-chaired and investor-backed NWF taskforce set up to advise the government on...

July 10, 2024
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09Jul

UK. Three things the new Labour govt must do for pensions

Three things need to be put at the top of Labour's list for solving the UK's pension problem, Aviva's Alistair McQueen has said. The head of savings and retirement for Aviva told FT Adviser he welcomed the reforms outlined by new chancellor Rachel Reeves this morning (July 8) but said the pensions profession was not hoping for "any new, flashy ideas." "The three priorities should be to implement the 2017 auto-enrolment reforms, implement the pension dashboard, and conclude the advice/guidance boundary review." According to McQueen,...

July 9, 2024
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08Jul

UK. The Pensions Regulator to challenge master trusts on investments

The Pensions Regulator will shift its focus onto the making sure master trust investments deliver for savers, now it has taken regulatory responsibility of these vehicles. The growth of master trusts has been driven by the introduction of automatic enrolment in 2012 and in 2018 the Government introduced a regulatory framework which meant only master trusts authorised by TPR were permitted to operate. Neil Bull, TPR’s executive director of market oversight, said following the completion of this process the regulator would...

July 8, 2024
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