April 2017

11Apr

UK Pensions minister: lifetime allowance is more than enough to retire on

The £1 million lifetime allowance (LTA) allows people to save four times what they need to reach an average retirement income, according to pensions minister Richard Harrington. Since 2011 the LTA has fallen from £1.8 million to its current level of £1 million. People who breach the £1 million limit over a lifetime face penalties of up to 55% when they receive their pension. The policy, which collected HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) £126 million for the 2015/16 tax tear according to...

April 11, 2017
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07Apr

UK Government consults on early exit charges and pension commission regulations

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has launched a consultation on draft regulations regarding the cap on early exit charges for occupational pension schemes and restrictions on member-borne commission payments. The consultation, which will run until 31 May 2017, seeks views on the draft Occupation Pension Schemes (Charges and Governance) (Amendment) Regulations 2017. These regulations would restrict early exit charges for members of workplace pension schemes to enable eligible members over the age of 55 to take advantage of the...

April 7, 2017
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06Apr

Lifetime Isa chaos: Fees could leave savers £60k worse off than pensions

The Government's Lifetime Isa scheme is in chaos as not a single high street bank is offering the accounts, amid fears it could result in a mis-selling scandal. Despite officially launching on April 6 just three providers have agreed to offer the accounts, one of which was last night accused of ripping off savers by charging "disturbingly" high fees. Daily Telegraph calculations reveal that the Share Centre's Lifetime Isa will leave savers as much as £60,000 worse off than they would...

April 6, 2017
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05Apr

Workers at BMW to stage series of strikes amid row over pensions

Workers at car giant BMW are to stage a series of eight 24-hour strikes from later this month in a dispute over pensions. Members of Unite will walk out at different locations from April 19 until May 24, following a huge vote in favour of industrial action. Unite said the strikes will “significantly disrupt” production of cars including the Mini. The union said closure of the BMW occupational pension scheme by the end of May could see some workers lose up to...

April 5, 2017
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03Apr

UK. Losing pension drives BMW workers to strike

UK workers employed at the BMW plants have voted to strike in a fight over pensions, the Unite union has announced. These workers employed for making Rolls-Royce and Mini engines are planning to strike as their final salary pension scheme is being closed. The union said the proposed order would mean that some UK workers "lose up to 160,000 in retirement income". Timeline 27 Sep 2016 BMW says come 2017 old pension schemes to close BMW, the German car giant announced its plans...

April 3, 2017
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03Apr

UK. Pension schemes are a ‘material risk’ to FTSE 250

A significant number of British businesses are sitting on pension schemes that could represent a "material risk" to their business, a retirement consultancy has warned. An analysis of FTSE 250 accounts has found that 23 businesses - including the AA, Thomas Cook and Balfour Beatty - would have to withhold payments to shareholders for over two years if they needed to clear their pension shortfalls, compared to just seven in the FTSE 100. The study by JLT Employment Benefits also found...

April 3, 2017
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03Apr

UK. Pensions hole deepens at Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia

The pension deficit at Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group soared to £565m last year as BHS was dragged to its knees by its own shortfall, according to new documents released last night by MPs. The retail billionaire had said he would double his annual contribution into Arcadia’s pension fund to £50m. However, at that time it was believed the deficit was only £200m. Now new papers, dated after the company’s triennial valuation, show the full severity of the issue. They also...

April 3, 2017
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March 2017

31Mar

UK. Insurers call for pension dashboard regulation as tech set to launch

Insurers have called on the government to start legislating for a pensions dashboard, as they prepare to launch the first working prototype next month. In last year's Budget the Treasury set out expectations for the pensions industry to build a dashboard to allow people to see where all their retirement savings are by 2019. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has taken responsibility for organising the project. Currently 17 providers have signed up to help develop the dashboard. Technology for the dashboard...

March 31, 2017
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30Mar

UK. Slowdown in life expectancy could ease pension deficit pressure by £28b

The latest projections from the Continuous Mortality Investigation (CMI) would reduce life expectancies at 65 by around 1.3% for males and 2% for females, compared to the previous version of the model. According to Mercer's Pension Risk Report, at 30 December 2016 the pension liabilities for FTSE 350 employers were £857 billion so, in total and to the extent the experience underlying the new model has not already been allowed for, the adjustment could remove around £28 billion of...

March 30, 2017
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24Mar

Former director of CBI: UK state pension age should hit 68 seven years earlier than planned

John Cridland’s report, which will frame government policy on the state pension, has said state pension age (SPA) increases should be accelerated and should rise from 67 to 68 between 2037 and 2039. Last year the government commissioned Cridland, former director general of the Confederation of British Industry, to review the SPA, looking at the financial sustainability of the system, the issues that drive SPA rises and life expectancy. Under current legislation, from December 2018, the SPA for men and women...

March 24, 2017
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