All articles by Ian Smith – Page 12
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Features
Pearl wipes £19m off liabilities with Pie exercise
The Pearl Group Staff Pension Scheme has closed its funding gap by £19m through a derisking exercise that achieved a 40 per cent take-up among eligible pensioners.
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FeaturesPPF trims comms as numbers near 500,000
The pensions lifeboat has streamlined its communication materials to improve its performance as it prepares to take over customer service for its growing membership.
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Features
MNOPF readies for final derisking step
The Merchant Navy Officers Pension Fund has sold assets and shifted its investment approach to prepare for a deal to insure the remaining liabilities of its £1.3bn defined benefit old section.
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Features
Hybrid DC ruling prompts review of safety nets
Schemes should revisit how certain benefits are protected by funding legislation, following the Supreme Court judgement on hybrid scheme design.
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FeaturesTesco: Control the cost of losing contracting out
The government is plotting a statutory override to help schemes remove contracting-out rules. Tesco's group pensions director tells Ian Smith how to control the cost of the changes.
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FeaturesHeineken targets quicker changes with contract scheme
The beverages business has revealed it chose a contract-based rather than a trust-based defined contribution scheme to speed up its investment governance.
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Features
Rexam changes rules to reduce member tax cost
Rexam Pension Plan has changed its scheme rules to allow a handful of active members affected by tax relief reductions to reduce their pensionable pay.
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FeaturesScottish & Newcastle diversifies with 5% in EMD
The Scottish & Newcastle Pension Plan will allocate 5 per cent of its assets to emerging market debt in a bid to diversify its growth portfolio.
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Features
Greater Manchester prepares for 25% fall in membership
Greater Manchester Pension Fund has set up a working group to draw up an investment strategy in expectation of a much-reduced membership.
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Features
One in four employers to mitigate 2012 costs
Ian Smith looks at new data revealing how defined contribution (DC) schemes and employers are planning to control the cost of auto-enrolment.
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Features
Improve scrutiny of FX investments, schemes urged
With professional trustees predicting increased exposure to currency, schemes have been called to pursue transparency and audit data in their trades to protect their investments.
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Features
Schemes urged to review PPF and FAS protection
Incoming legislation will mean more schemes will qualify for protection through the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS), but all need to review what legislative protection they are entitled.
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Features
How to encourage greater uptake of the OMO
Schemes have been urged to provide more detailed information on annuity options to ensure retiring members get the most from their defined contribution (DC) savings.
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Features
Regulator highlights DC failure over risk registers
The Pensions Regulator is planning to measure governance standards twice yearly after failing to increase the number of small schemes to have set up risk registers.
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Features
CPI legislation will increase scheme costs
Schemes which revalue benefits according to the retail prices index (RPI) will face the increased costs of a double calculation under the government’s final plans for scheme indexation.
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Features
Schemes cut cost of deferred members' small pots
Defined contribution (DC) schemes are reaching a tipping point where the number of deferred members are beginning to overtake active ones, meaning greater administration costs for members no longer employed at the company.
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Features
Using the state pension to increase contributions
Schemes have been urged to use the state pension to drive engagement and increase employee contributions, following compelling research on motivations to save.
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Features
Case study: Nelsons ups employee contributions by 54%
Healthcare manufacturer Nelsons has increased its average employee contribution to 5.4% from 3.5% by replacing its communications provider and launching a new group personal pension (GPP).
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Features
Case study: Shared services saves schemes 20% costs
The two county councils at the forefront of the “shared services” model recommended by an independent review for public sector schemes have achieved 20% savings in pensions administration and fund management.
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Features
IAS 19 changes to drive derisking
Changes to accounting standards will bring sponsors and schemes closer together, and provide an impetus to derisk, according to consultants.