May 2017
12May

UK. Pensions regulator director to leave for local government scheme

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) director Andrew Warwick-Thompson will leave his role to join the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). Warwick-Thompson (pictured) has been executive director for regulatory policy at TPR since 2013. In the role he is responsible for TPR's policies on pension schemes, including master trusts. Warwick-Thompson will become chief executive of LGPS Central in July, which administers defined benefit schemes for some local authorities in Midlands and the North West. TPR is in the process of appointing a successor to Warwick-Thompson. Lesley...

May 12, 2017
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12May

UK. ACA opposes additional powers for The Pensions Regulator

On member protection and new powers for the Pensions Regulator, the ACA response says ‘we do not believe that there is any significant evidence that members need additional protection or that substantial new powers are needed for the Pensions Regulator. Whilst several recent high-profile cases have raised the question of whether members have adequate protection, the outcome of these cases has seen members generally receiving (or expecting to receive) benefits above PPF minimum levels, which should be regarded as...

May 12, 2017
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05May

UK pension deficits rise to £145bn; liabilities at record high

Mercer’s Pensions Risk Survey data shows that the accounting deficit of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes for the UK’s 350 largest listed companies rose from £133bn at the end of March to £145bn on April 28th. Deficits were volatile over the month ranging from £132bn to £155bn. After the announcement of the UK election and the first round of the French election results there was a slight improvement by £4bn and £7bn, respectively, but deficits finished the month £12bn...

May 5, 2017
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03May

UK. Retirement: are pensions going to be much smaller in future?

Increasing life expectancy has seen the number of years in which people spend in retirement creep ever upwards. Using census data, the Office for National Statistics calculated that in 1981 a 65 year old man could expect to live another 13 years (17 for a woman). By 2011 this had increased by five years to 18 years of retirement (21 for a woman). By 2050, more than 50,000 Britons are expected to reach 100, and it is now predicted that...

May 3, 2017
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02May

350,000 Workers Benefit After Billions Pulled From Asset Managers

Britain’s $32 billion railway pension scheme has halved the cost of running its biggest asset pool by moving investments in-house. RPMI RailPen, which oversees the retirement assets of 350,000 British railway workers, pulled billions of pounds from hedge funds and other money managers, reducing the cost of overseeing its main fund to half a percentage point. And there’s more cost-cutting to come, says the firm’s investment chief. “Fifty basis points is not bad for something that has property in it, but...

May 2, 2017
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01May

Triple-lock: Call for pensions policy to be revamped

Steve Webb, pension minister from 2010 to 2015 and now a director at mutual insurer Royal London, has proposed a "middle way" on state pension policy. The triple-lock sees the state pension rise in line with wages, inflation or by 2.5% - whichever is highest. However, it is becoming increasingly expensive to maintain and some have called for it to be scrapped. A recent review by former CBI director-general John Cridland, who was appointed as the government's independent reviewer of state pension...

May 1, 2017
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April 2017

28Apr

Royal Mail says considering how to replace pension plan after union backlash

Britain's Royal Mail said on Friday it was looking at ways to replace the defined benefit pension scheme it plans to scrap at the end of March 2018, after a backlash from unions over the closure of the older scheme. Royal Mail, the British postal service privatised in 2013, said it was one of only a few major companies that still has employees in a defined benefit scheme, a type of pension that pays out according to employees' final...

April 28, 2017
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27Apr

UK. Theresa May ‘to KEEP pensions triple lock due to General Election voter backlash fears’

The Prime Minister avoided providing definite answers as to whether she may ditch the policy during the last session of PMQs before the General Election. But senior Tory’s have allegedly suggested she may keep the scheme because the financial savings may not be worth the political risk. One senior Tory told the Daily Mail: “It has to be tackled in the long run, but I suspect in the end we won’t touch it in the manifesto. “It is not sustainable in the...

April 27, 2017
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27Apr

UK should scrap state pensions for the richest 5-10%, says OECD

The UK should scrap state pension payments for the richest retirees, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has said. The Paris-based think tank has said that slashing payments for the wealthiest 5-10 per cent of people would “free up resources” to raise pensions for the less well off. Under the current system, every UK citizen is eligible to receive a full state pension once they hit retirement age, providing they have made 30 years’ of National Insurance contributions. Speaking to...

April 27, 2017
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26Apr

UK. Hundreds of thousands risk being over-taxed on their pension

Royal London estimates that around 800,000 people under state pension age are receiving pensions but should be non-taxpayers because their total income is below the personal allowance. The company is urging those individuals to check that they are paying no tax and to apply for a refund if they have been over-taxed. This may be a particular issue for those who have multiple sources of taxable income such as a wage and a pension or multiple pensions. In some...

April 26, 2017
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