All Governance articles – Page 18
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News
Chair’s statement template to ease trustee headaches
On the go: The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association has released a new template designed to help trustees of well-run defined contribution schemes avoid being caught out by chair’s statement requirements.
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Opinion
Templates help, but govt help is needed on chair’s statements
High-quality scheme governance is an issue that the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association is passionate about; it is the focus of much of our policy work. The defined contribution chair’s statement, which is a core component of these governance duties, has become a source of real debate in the pensions industry of late.
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News
ESG-focused investments show durability through market meltdown
The Covid-19 pandemic has shown how important environmental, social and governance factors are when making investment decisions, according to analysts.
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News
Covid-19: Disruption for DC schemes; social impact woes
While defined contribution trustees are being warned they could be facing more disruption than just investment volatility, institutional investors are calling on companies to mitigate the coronavirus social impact. At the same time, risks of cybersecurity and fraud are on the rise. Read our round-up of pensions and finance news about the coronavirus outbreak.
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News
HSBC ahead of curve with TCFD compliance
As the government seeks powers to mandate pension schemes to disclose their climate change risks, the HSBC Bank (UK) Pension Scheme is already on its second report under the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures.
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News
Volatility exposes trustees’ slow reaction times
Volatility playing havoc with defined benefit funding ratios may speed the transition towards fiduciary management and consolidation of final salary schemes, according to governance specialists.
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News
L&G to launch fossil fuel free fund
On the go: PensionBee will offer Legal & General’s first fossil fuel-free fund, in response to demand from consumers to exclude oil from their pension investments.
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News
Cheshire Pension Fund questions members on investments and ESG
The £5.8bn Cheshire Pension Fund is gauging the views of its members and participating employers on its investment strategy and environmental, social and governance policy.
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News
Trustee boards display unacceptable lack of diversity
On the go: The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association has published a guide to improving diversity and inclusion in pensions, amid enduring concerns over groupthink and prejudice in the trust-based system.
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Opinion
The biggest driver of change in DC
Data Crunch: Over the past few years, defined contribution schemes have had to adapt to substantial changes introduced by the government and the regulators.
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News
DWP: Government will not dictate schemes’ ESG investments
The government insists it is not intervening in pension scheme investment strategies with a climate change amendment to the pension schemes bill introduced earlier this month.
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News
Nest joins campaign for Barclays fossil fuel divestment
On the go: Master trust Nest has joined a group of institutional investors urging Barclays to publish a plan to gradually phase out its financing of fossil fuel companies.
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News
TPR ordered to set out climate change strategy
On the go: The government is expecting the Pensions Regulator to publish a strategy for dealing with the financial risks arising from climate change, among other requirements to integrate the Green Finance Strategy into its activities.
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Podcasts
Podcast: Regulator should take ‘softly-softly’ approach to DC consolidation
Podcast: The Pensions Regulator should take a “softly-softly” approach to defined contribution consolidation, similar to what happened with master trusts during the authorisation process, where subtle conversations occurred and schemes decided to exit in an orderly manner, according to Adrian Boulding, director of policy at Now Pensions. He and Rosalind Connor, partner at Arc Pensions Law, discuss the response from the watchdog to its consultation of the future of trusteeship and governance, among other topics.
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News
PMI launches accreditation course for professional trustees
On the go: The Pensions Management Institute has launched its course for professional trustees seeking accreditation, after an apparent split with the Association of Professional Pension Trustees.
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News
ESG amendments to give govt ‘unprecedented new powers’
The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association has warned that government bodies will have “unprecedented new powers” to interfere in pension scheme investment strategies if an amendment to the pension schemes bill is passed.
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Opinion
Pension funds must be a positive part of regenerative capitalism
Pension fund trustees, and particularly their investment consultants, are among the most influential decision-makers when it comes to the deployment of capital in the UK and beyond.
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News
TPR promises more regulatory action on ESG
On the go: The Pensions Regulator has promised more action on pension schemes’ environmental, social and governance practices, rejecting accusations that it is a laggard in this area among UK regulators.
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Opinion
Positive momentum behind responsible investment
Data Crunch: Despite daily news coverage, regulatory developments and a growing consensus that environmental, social and governance factors affect investment returns, many trustees struggle to engage with responsible investment practices.
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News
Church of England invests £600m in ESG equity fund
On the go: The Church of England Pensions Board plans to allocate £600m to a fund tracking a climate-friendly index, aiming to align its pension schemes with the goals of the Paris agreement.