All Features articles – Page 16

  • Nottinghamshire opens portals
    Features

    Nottinghamshire to create portals for improved admin

    2017-10-13T00:00:00Z

    The Nottinghamshire County Council Pension Fund is implementing portals for both employers and members as part of a push to improve administration across the scheme.

  • Features

    Could a shift in AE contributions balance raise saving levels?

    2017-10-12T00:00:00Z

    Analysis: As questions remain over the adequacy of auto-enrolment contributions, a shift in the balance between employers and employees might provide the answer towards raising retirement saving levels.

  • Features

    Can multinationals achieve consistency in benefits?

    2017-10-11T00:00:00Z

    Analysis: Multinational companies often run several complex pension schemes across multiple jurisdictions, but different tax and benefit rules around the world can pose various problems for companies looking to achieve consistency in benefits.

  • Features

    Greater Manchester impact investment to build 2,000 homes

    2017-10-09T00:00:00Z

    The £21.3bn Greater Manchester Pension Fund is in the latter stages of concluding a series of impact investment deals, worth about £100m, which will build roughly 2,000 local homes.

  • Getty Images
    Features

    Worcestershire looks overseas for infrastructure

    2017-10-05T00:00:00Z

    The Worcestershire County Council Pension Fund has agreed to split £150m equally between two new overseas infrastructure funds, in the latest stage of an infrastructure investment programme that has run since 2015.

  • Features

    Structured equity appeals but ‘not a no-risk strategy’

    2017-10-03T00:00:00Z

    Analysis: For some time now, financial punters have prescribed passive investment as the low-cost panacea for investors bloodied by years of underwhelming active management.

  • Features

    Slide towards retail investing faces backlash

    2017-09-29T00:00:00Z

    Pensions Expert 20th Anniversary: March 19 2014 marked a seismic change in the UK pensions landscape: from the dispatch box in the House of Commons, future newspaper editor George Osborne announced the removal of the requirement to annuitise defined contribution savings, unlocking a world of possibility for scheme members.

  • Features

    Wholesale changes to rules are needed to enable DB consolidation

    2017-09-28T00:00:00Z

    Pensions Expert 20th Anniversary: Amalgamating defined benefit corporate pension funds could reduce costs, improve investment and make for better governance, but it is still unclear whether full DB consolidation is a chimera or the fix to a fragmented system.

  • Getty Images
    Features

    Better data flow could transform pensions, but will it?

    2017-09-27T00:00:00Z

    Pensions Expert 20th Anniversary: A yawning technology gap has long been identified in the sector, but many feel more than the dashboard is needed to drag pensions into the 21 century.

  • Bloomberg
    Features

    Should schemes engage in more shareholder activism?

    2017-09-27T00:00:00Z

    Analysis: Facebook has cancelled its plan to issue a new type of non-voting shares following pressure from investors, but some have said UK pension funds lack the size to exert similar influence.

  • Features

    How will regulation need to change to be fit for the 21st century?

    2017-09-27T00:00:00Z

    Pensions Expert 20th Anniversary: When the world’s first funded occupational pension plan appeared towards the end of the 16th century in the form of a large iron chest, its success was short-lived.

  • Features

    Royal Insurance Group overhauls trustee board

    2017-09-22T00:00:00Z

    The Royal Insurance Group Pension Scheme has reduced its trustee board size and changed the way member-nominated trustees are appointed, saying the move will save costs and make governance more efficient.

  • Features

    Where should tomorrow’s schemes allocate their assets?

    2017-09-22T00:00:00Z

    Pensions Expert 20th Anniversary: In 1997, globalisation and increased investor sophistication powered a bull market that was meant to stretch beyond the confines of a regular business cycle. 

  • Features

    How valuable are transition managers?

    2017-09-13T00:00:00Z

    Analysis: Last week, State Street agreed to pay approximately $35m (£26m) to settle a pair of complaints by the Securities and Exchange Commission that it defrauded six institutional investors while conducting transition management services.*

  • Features

    What can pension schemes learn from insurers?

    2017-09-08T00:00:00Z

    Analysis: Prudent liability management features among the priorities of pension funds and insurers alike. Experts have previously called upon investors to think more like insurers, but differences in objectives, regulatory requirements and scale mean that total strategic convergence between schemes and insurers is unlikely.

  • NILGOSC
    Features

    Nilgosc outvotes social infrastructure sceptics

    2017-09-07T00:00:00Z

    The Northern Ireland Local Government Superannuation Committee has voted for social infrastructure as a suitable investment type, despite concerns among some committee members about political risk and the impact on public services.

  • Features

    Schemes regain faith in fid man evaluators

    2017-09-07T00:00:00Z

    Trustees have shown more inclination towards using third-party evaluators as part of the fiduciary management selection process, a new report has shown. Mid-sized schemes continue to flock towards fiduciary management.

  • Features

    How to make sure a scheme merger runs smoothly

    2017-09-06T00:00:00Z

    Analysis: A desire to cut costs and harmonise pension provision often drives companies with multiple defined benefit pension funds to consolidate their schemes, but experts say there are a number of factors trustees and employers should bear in mind to ensure a smooth merger.  

  • Source: Bloomberg
    Features

    Brexit will have little impact on admin, experts say

    2017-09-06T00:00:00Z

    In pension terms, Brexit is widely expected to affect sponsor covenant and potentially regulation, but will it change how schemes pay pensioners who live in the EU?

  • Features

    Research and Mifid II: Better quality, lower cost

    2017-08-31T00:00:00Z

    Analysis: As more asset managers announce their decision to absorb research costs in response to Mifid II, experts speculate that schemes may benefit from better returns and greater transparency.