All articles by Angus Peters – Page 3
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News
Littlewoods scheme buys in remaining £930m with Rothesay
On the go: The Littlewoods Pensions Scheme has secured almost £1bn of its defined benefit liabilities with insurer Rothesay Life, with the plan’s pension promises now completely covered by bulk annuity contracts.
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Features
Sunny DB analysis masks trouble ahead
Data crunch: Detailed analysis of triennial valuations with due dates up to December 2019 confirm the gradual improvement in the security of defined benefits in the UK, but experts warn that care is needed to keep schemes on track this year.
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Opinion
Schemes must stay safe as cyber threat heightens
Editor’s blog: “When, not if.” A stark warning from the Pensions Regulator over the threat that cyber crime poses to pensions, if a little obfuscatory given an attack on an administrator had already been launched a few days earlier.
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News
Industry leaders’ plea to ministers over FCA advice trap
Leaders of pensions industry representative groups have written a joint complaint to government ministers over new guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority, which they warn could see helpful trustees deemed to be giving regulated financial advice.
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News
Providers urged to prepare comms for Covid squeeze
Savers underestimate the impact that the coronavirus crisis could have on their financial wellbeing, according to a new survey, leading to calls for providers to communicate reassuringly with the minority of members that engage in times of stress.
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News
Engineering consultant scheme on lookout for bulk annuity bargains
Trustees of the defined benefit scheme for a Yorkshire engineering consultancy’s staff are actively monitoring the bulk annuity market, after two completed transactions and improved funding levels.
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News
Pensions administrator suffers ransomware attack
Pension companies have been warned to be on their guard against ransomware attacks, after industry insiders confirmed to Pensions Expert that at least one administrator was subjected to a ransomware attack in the past week.
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News
Brunel pool issues tenders across credit spectrum
On the go: The Brunel Pension Partnership has called for pitches from managers of both multi-asset credit and sterling corporate bonds, seeking to deploy some £2.7bn of local authority pension capital.
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News
Warnings of 20% member losses as RPI consultation closes
On the go: Investment managers have demanded that the government compensates clients for losses they will suffer if the retail price index is downgraded, as a consultation on changes to the outdated inflation measure closes.
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News
TPR touts tougher DB approach and shrinking DC universe
On the go: The Pensions Regulator has stated its ambitions to extend its direct supervision of schemes and refocus on prompt transactions, after meeting the majority of its performance objectives over the past year.
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News
Working group issues guidance on GMP equalisation data
On the go: Trustees of defined benefit pension schemes must make considered decisions about whether data they may need for guaranteed minimum pension equalisation is cost-effective to obtain, according to new guidance on the process.
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News
TPR’s fast-track proposal 'risks levelling down by employers'
Actuaries have expressed concern that the Pensions Regulator’s proposal of a ‘fast-track’ route for compliance, with its expectations on defined benefit funding, could spur market-leading employers to level down their approach.
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Opinion
Lords’ open DB protections don't stack up
Editor's blog: Are we to see the decline of defined benefit put on hold? That is the vision of amendments to the pension schemes bill moved at the end of June by the House of Lords.
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News
LGPS funds join forces to fund 'co-living' ventures
On the go: The Merseyside Pension Fund has allocated to a fund investing in co-living spaces, joining institutional investors including the Strathclyde Pension Fund.
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News
Lords commit TPR to preserving open DB schemes
The House of Lords has amended the pension schemes bill to ensure that open defined benefit schemes are not forced to derisk their investments in the same way as closed plans, in one of four defeats suffered by the government.
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News
How can schemes make ESG compliance meaningful?
Analysis: The UK pension industry’s first attempt at compliance with new sustainability reporting rules has left campaigners unimpressed, to say the very least.
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News
Lords’ climate amendment could dilute trustee power
An amendment to climate risk provisions in the pension schemes bill could force schemes to align their investment strategies with the Paris agreement, going one step further than the government’s own provisions for reporting against sustainability criteria.
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News
PPF cap is age discrimination, court rules
A High Court judge has ruled that a key feature of the Pension Protection Fund’s benefit structure is illegal on age discrimination grounds, leaving the defined benefit lifeboat liable for back payments to wealthier pension members.
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News
Superfunds cleared to begin work under TPR interim regime
The Pensions Regulator is to sanction the transfer of struggling corporate defined benefit schemes into commercial consolidators aiming to secure pensions at a lower cost than insurers, under a two-part interim regime unveiled on Thursday.
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News
Industry bodies lobby government to change insolvency bill
Pensions industry bodies are lobbying the government to make changes to the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill, which unless revised will “inevitably lead to more pensioners not receiving their benefits in full and greater strain on the Pension Protection Fund”.