March 2024
27Mar

UK. Data shows public concern about pensions adequacy and climate change

Most of the public want the government to do more to address pensions adequacy and to ensure the industry is tackling the climate crisis, research from ShareAction, Make My Money Matter and Finance Innovation Lab finds. The research from the responsible investment organisations – which polled 2,000 UK adults this month – found three quarters (77%) of the public were concerned about adequacy, while two thirds (65%) wanted the pensions industry to address climate change. As part of its work, the group put...

March 27, 2024
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26Mar

Majority of U.K. DB plans looking for buy-in or buyout

More than half (53%) of the U.K.’s large defined benefit plans are planning for an insurer buy-in or buyout within the next three years, according to research by insurance and asset management firm Legal & General. In 2023, around £50 billion of U.K. retirement income was secured with insurance companies through pension buy-ins and buyouts. When it came to investment strategy, three quarters of respondents affirmed that they were decreasing allocations to illiquid assets. Insurers have previously expressed caution in engaging...

March 26, 2024
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25Mar

UK’s Conservatives will commit to pensions triple lock, says Hunt

Britain's ruling Conservative Party would commit to keeping the so-called triple lock for increasing state pensions, finance minister Jeremy Hunt said on Sunday, seeking to woo older voters ahead of an election expected later this year. With the opposition Labour Party holding a strong lead in opinion polls, Hunt stepped up efforts to draw a dividing line between the parties by emphasising the Conservatives' commitment to lower taxation. Under the existing pension triple lock system, the government has promised to raise...

March 25, 2024
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22Mar

Thousands of UK women owed pension payout after ombudsman’s Waspi ruling

Thousands of women, potentially hundreds of thousands, are owed compensation because of government failings related to the way changes to the state pension age were made, a long-awaited official report has said. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) said those affected should be compensated. But the recommended payouts of between £1,000 and £2,950 a person fall far short of the £10,000-plus that campaigners were calling for. Depending on the numbers affected, the total bill could still end up being in the...

March 22, 2024
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21Mar

UK’s Hunt Says State Pension and Benefits Are ‘Under Review’

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt indicated that reforms to the UK state pension and welfare benefits are being considered as the government scrambles to fund increases in defense spending and boost economic growth. Testifying to lawmakers in the House of Lords, Hunt said the triple lock — which guarantees that the state pension rises by the highest of inflation, average earnings or 2.5% — was “under review.” Continuation of the policy is subject to improving the government’s two goals of...

March 21, 2024
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20Mar

UK Spring Budget – Pensions proposals silent on sustainability

The UK government’s Spring Budget last week put an emphasis on investments in the UK but creates more risks for long-term savers by not sufficiently addressing sustainability risks. Pension funds and their investments have a direct influence on environmental, social, and economic outcomes. In order to secure the long-term financial interest of beneficiaries, pension funds have a responsibility to consider whether system-level sustainability risks will affect their ability to do this[1]. A key topic of the UK Spring Budget, also addressed in the...

March 20, 2024
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19Mar

Pension savers warned of ‘national crisis’ as ‘eye-watering’ £50billion at risk of being lost in UK

Over £50 billion of hard-earned pension cash is at risk of being lost in the UK as the number of pensions rises, new research shows. An estimated 4.8 million pension pots are already missing in the UK with nearly one in 10 workers believing they could have lost a pension pot worth more than £10,000. The number of lost pensions are set to rise by 130 per cent by 2050 as more people change jobs, and are automatically enrolled into their...

March 19, 2024
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19Mar

UK. Deliveroo is spending an estimated $230,000 to give a handful of riders 15 hours of childcare—after years of lobbying to avoid paying sick leave, PTO, and pensions

Deliveroo burst into its first profit last year, and the company appears to be shelling out a small fraction of that windfall to its self-employed riders. The delivery app is partnering with Bubble, an on-demand childcare platform that matches parents with babysitters, to give a small portion of its 50,000 U.K.-based riders free childcare. Deliveroo will give 1,000 of its riders 15 hours of childcare to access through Bubble’s app, the pair announced. But the initiative might appear hollow to riders who...

March 19, 2024
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15Mar

UK. TPR takes tougher action over value as it issues first fine

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has issued a fine against a corporate trustee in the UK in a drive to ensure savers receive value from their pension schemes. Regulation, which came into force in 2021, require trustees of pension schemes with less than £100m in assets to undertake a more detailed assessment of value for members than larger schemes. Those failing to deliver value must set out a plan to improve or transfer members to a better-value scheme. To ensure this, TPR launched...

March 15, 2024
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14Mar

UK. DWP’s frozen state pension policy called into question

The International Consortium of British Pensioners has called for a review of frozen pensions as its analysis reportedly calls into question the figures used by the government to defend the policy. According to the report titled ‘Frozen Pensions: A Policy Overdue for Review’, the figures used by the DWP on the cost of unfreezing pensions are based on the "false presumption" that, at the date of such a policy change, all pensions would be uprated to the level they would have...

March 14, 2024
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