All Defined benefit articles – Page 188
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Features
Tyne and Wear switches PE benchmark to limit relative volatility
Tyne and Wear Pension Fund has switched to using an absolute return benchmark for its private equity investments in a bid to reduce the relative volatility of returns.
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Features
BAE sees four in 10 agree to give up pension increases
BAE Systems Pension Scheme has experienced a 38 per cent take-up of a pension increase exchange offered to pensioner members, in an exercise to reduce its inflation risk.
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News
Employers face increased pension loss payouts after NHS case
Employers may be liable to pay increased compensation relating to pension loss to employees dismissed unfairly, lawyers have warned, after a tribunal appeal found an earlier decision had miscalculated the sum owed to an NHS scheme member.
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News
How scrapping 55% 'death tax' could affect your DB scheme
Consultants have again predicted greater interest in transfers out of defined benefit schemes following the proposed removal of inheritance tax on pension pots, while others doubted the changes would have much impact.
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News
Budget flexibilities fail to spur DB transfer interest
Predictions that the Budget flexibilities would lure members out of defined benefit pension schemes have so far proved unfounded, as data show no uplift in the proportion requesting transfer value quotations.
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News
What the ONS data tell us about contribution habits
Official data have shown employers with between 1,000 and 4,999 employees on average contribute more to their defined contribution schemes than their larger and smaller counterparts, as industry experts call for increased contributions.
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Features
Nationwide builds inflation hedge, ups matching assets to derisk
Nationwide Pension Fund has reduced its exposure to return-seeking assets and carried out its first significant inflation hedge, as capital adequacy rules drive banking and building society sponsors to reduce funding volatility.
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Opinion
Schemes make record gilts investment, and three other key ONS charts
Schemes invested heavily in fixed income assets – including government, corporate and overseas bonds – last quarter. Anticipated rate rises, schemes derisking out of equities and even switching from synthetic to real gilt holdings have all been investment drivers.
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News
How devolution could affect your scheme
Scheme professionals have predicted devolved tax and welfare powers to Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland could increase the cost of administering schemes which have members across the UK, though others doubt the impact.
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Features
The Pensions Trust to open doors to private sector DB as employers outsource
The Pensions Trust plans to start accepting private sector employers into the scheme from late October, hoping to attract the growing number of small and medium-sized companies outsourcing the management of defined benefit schemes.
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Features
Somerset and Devon tighten shared admin strategy to boost employer comms
Somerset County Council Pension Fund and Devon County Council Fund will establish a formal administration strategy in order to improve communication between the schemes and its participating employers.
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News
Three in four DB schemes sizing up post-Budget incentive exercises
Benefit consultants have reported that as many as three-quarters of their defined benefit scheme clients are considering incentive exercises to reduce their risks following the introduction of the Budget freedoms.
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Features
Westminster moves towards global equities to free up managers
The City of Westminster Superannuation Fund has decreased its UK equity holdings in favour of global stocks to give managers greater flexibility and boost performance.
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News
Channel 4 looks to shut off DB accrual to quell deficit increase
Channel 4 plans to close its defined benefit pension scheme after its deficit more than tripled, having paused its consultation to give members a chance to understand the personal impact of the changes.
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News
Schemes eye forward rates to time hedge moves
Larger schemes are showing greater interest in using forward rather than spot rates to assess whether to increase their interest and inflation hedges, in order to gain a more accurate picture of fair value.
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Opinion
Webb: My pension schemes bill is focused on the saver's experience
Last week, I had the privilege of introducing the pension schemes bill to Parliament, and seeing it receive an unopposed second reading.
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News
Smaller schemes combine service provision to reduce legacy burden
Leading benefit consultancies have reported more small to medium-sized schemes are bundling services under a single provider in response to a growth in legacy arrangements and to benefit from economies of scale.
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News
The Pensions Trust takes names off ballot to reduce bias
The Pensions Trust has anonymised its trustee board elections in a controversial attempt to create a more diverse board, as schemes work to improve representation on male-dominated governance bodies.
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Features
USS revamps covenant assessment model in face of funding challenge
The Universities Superannuation Scheme has opted for a more thorough covenant assessment due to changes in higher education funding and an expected increase in its deficit from this year’s triennial valuation.
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News
Risk management key trustee challenge as complexity criticised
An industry survey has shown understanding risk is the biggest challenge for defined benefit pension scheme trustees, sparking debate over whether trustees need more sophistication, or whether scheme choices need simplifying.