All Defined contribution articles – Page 124
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News
Guidance questions leave employers wavering on workplace education
Industry experts have reported employer doubts over the effectiveness of the guidance guarantee, but have also predicted the service could act as a catalyst to review their financial education programmes.
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Opinion
Exploring the impact of the new money purchase definition
Sackers’ Zoë Murphy looks at which schemes may be affected by the definition change and what they might need to do from April – including paying the Pension Protection Fund levy, actuarial valuations and assessing underpins.
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Opinion
Five objectives and five risks for DC
Before the 2014 Budget, investment objectives for defined contribution schemes were relatively straightforward.
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Opinion
Six hurdles for DB and DC schemes to get over in 2015
By now, you'll have waded through all manner of 2014 round-ups, but what lies ahead for the pension trustee or scheme manager is certainly more pressing.
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News
Marine Harvest's trilingual roadshow keeps opt-outs in single figures
Salmon supplier Marine Harvest used boats, planes and cars to reach employees across the far reaches of northern Scotland, in a face-to-face auto-enrolment communication campaign that reflects the challenges faced by remote employers.
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News
Nest, M&S and Kingfisher in 2014's top post-Budget case studies
The chancellor's 2014 Budget in March sparked off a year of almost unprecedented change in pensions, seeing an immediate response from some employers on providing retirement flexibility.
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News
SABMiller, Wolseley and Findel in 2014's top AE stories
Auto-enrolment ramped up a gear in 2014 as the reform began to sweep up medium and smaller-sized employers, highlighting new challenges around how to ensure employers had the support they needed.
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Opinion
Five entirely depressing findings from the DC charges audit
If the workplace pensions industry should be judged by how it treats its existing customers, then today's revelations on scheme charges find it at best unfair and at worst extortionate.
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Opinion
Lafarge, Channel 4 and Lloyds feature in the top five derisking stories of 2014
Many schemes worked hard this year to make a dent in their pension fund deficit as liabilities soared, employing methods ranging from simple payment increases to complex recovery plans.
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NewsM&S weighs drawdown option for mastertrust members
Retailer Marks & Spencer is exploring offering drawdown to its defined contribution scheme members, as the industry readies itself for April's retirement flexibilities in a tough market for annuities.
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Opinion
Why the FCA's piecemeal action could push people back towards annuities
Will the Financial Conduct Authority's investigation of the annuities market never end? Even today's market study, and accompanying review of sales practices, will preface further work – by providers this time.
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Opinion
Many young people will not actively manage savings. That's okay
The growth of defined contribution pension plans means millions of British people with little or no experience of investing are, or will soon be, responsible for their own retirement planning. Yet most of them are blissfully unaware of this.
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News
TPAS: Wave of requests to hit schemes and administrators in April
The Pensions Advisory Service has warned that scheme trustees and administrators risk being overwhelmed in April by members eager to access their savings at the earliest opportunity, having waited a year for the pension freedoms to come into play.
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News
Webb defends 'revolutionary' CDC legacy against industry critics
Pensions minister Steve Webb told an industry event this week the “pendulum is going to swing back” from individual defined contribution pension provision, but delegates challenged the viability of risk-sharing schemes.
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Opinion
How the Autumn Statement will affect your scheme (not hugely)
Today's statement from chancellor George Osborne was like a cold flannel to the forehead of the pensions industry, compared with the madness of March. That the taxation of dependants' pensions was a central talking point is probably telling.
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Opinion
Nest: Our ethical strategy, and why talking to scheme members is crucial
Over the past 15 years the ethical consumer market has more than tripled in size, with consumers insisting on more ethical products and expecting higher standards from companies and their suppliers.
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News
Consultants report evidence of Osborne boost to DB-DC transfers
Consultants have reported an increase in the number of defined benefit to defined contribution transfer requests from scheme members following George Osborne's announcement of greater retirement flexibility in the March Budget.
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Opinion
DC is getting worse before it gets better, in three graphs
The auto-enrolment army of (initially) low-contributing, apathetic savers has marched into the official data on pension contributions, demonstrating the uphill battle facing the industry to secure a decent retirement for today's savers.
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Features
Wolseley moves to quell creeping opt-out rate
Plumbing products supplier Wolseley UK is working to battle a climbing opt-out rate, reflecting the challenge of keeping new joiners in workplace pension schemes despite attractive terms.
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Opinion
Osborne's guidance bill, a £2.5bn buyout and at-risk DC savers – a day in pensions
Here's your guide to an eventful day for the UK workplace pensions industry.