All Opinion articles – Page 65
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OpinionBreak down DC charges to assess value for money
As expectations of future investment returns are downgraded, it is becoming even harder to ensure that people put enough aside for their retirement, but what is the answer?
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OpinionAs the lifetime and annual allowance changes take effect, who has to prepare and how?
When someone retires, the amount crystallised on a 'benefit crystallisation event' will show if they are breaking through the lifetime allowance of £1m, but some can avoid that by protecting a higher amount.
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Opinion
Here to stay? Low interest rates and fixed income investing
Are low interest rates here to stay, and how can pension funds invest in bonds in this environment? In this first part of the Fixed Income Live series, Dalriada's Simon Cohen, Hymans Robertson's John Walbaum, Mercer's Joe Abrams, PGIM's Edward Farley and Willis Towers Watson's Chris Redmond discuss where rates are going and what this means for schemes.
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OpinionDisruption, dispute – discontent?
The news that Royal Bank of Scotland is shifting £18m of annual national insurance contributions – the increase it will face when contracting-out kicks in on April 6 – to 27,000 defined benefit members may not faze pensions lawyers, given it is legal to do so.
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Opinion
Altmann: Create a culture where it pays to save
Regular readers of this column will know that auto-enrolment and ensuring as many people as possible can look forward to a good private pension in retirement are a priority for me.
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Opinion
What the latest IGC reports tell us
Analysis: For as long as the term 'independent governance committee' has been floating around the pensions industry there have been questions about how they will work.
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OpinionA once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform local authority pensions
The outlines are now becoming clear of what is probably the biggest shake-up in local authority pensions since their launch before the second world war.
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OpinionWhat the £500 limit on tax-free financial advice will change
Under the new freedoms, pension savers will need to make a decision on what to do with their pots when they retire. Most employees have no experience managing their money and will need some form of help.
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OpinionWhat does Iain Duncan Smith's resignation mean for pensions?
There was a big upset in Westminster over the weekend as former secretary of state for work and pensions Iain Duncan Smith resigned in protest over the chancellor’s latest round of benefit cuts.
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OpinionArtificial sweetener
Editorial: The Lifetime Isa announced in the Budget, while presented in a sweet wrapper marked 'help the young', is not easily swallowed by some, and not everyone agrees what the actual taste will be.
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OpinionDoes your derisking strategy add risk?
From the blog: There is an analogy I like to draw involving something everybody knows: yoghurt. People have been happily consuming yoghurt for hundreds of years, but half a century ago people started to worry that too much fat was bad for their health.
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OpinionBeware of chancellors bearing gifts
In Greek mythology, the city of Troy was put under siege for ten fruitless years before the Greeks had the brainwave of pretending to be defeated and sailing off, leaving behind just a large wooden horse...
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Opinion
How will Emir shape the way schemes use LDI?
Roundtable: Pension schemes have been granted a transitional exemption from having to centrally clear derivatives – a rule contained in the European Market Infrastructure Regulation – but the exemption will end in August 2017. How will schemes be affected and how are they preparing? In the third part of this roundtable series, Bestrustees’ Huw Evans, HR Trustees’ Giles Payne, Aviva Investors’ Rakesh Girdharlal, KPMG’s Simeon Willis, Cambridge Associates’ Benoît Jacquemont and P-Solve Asset Solutions’ Barbara Saunders discuss what the new requirement will mean for schemes.
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OpinionWhat a move to CPIH could mean for UK pension schemes
Analysis: A letter from the Office for National Statistics recently cast ripples of doubt over the future shape of UK consumer inflation statistics; a move to consumer price inflation including housing, or even a household inflation index could have far-reaching effects on UK pension fund benefits and liabilities.
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Opinion
Data crunch: Growth and diversity define the smart beta market
The smart beta market has earlier origins, but it was in the 2000s when products emerged that targeted better risk-adjusted returns through analysis of correlations and covariance within portfolios.
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OpinionHow to prepare for legal and regulatory change
Pensions legislation seems to be subject to continual change and is now supplemented by a raft of codes of practice and guidance from the Pensions Regulator.
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OpinionBuchanan: Government should close legal gaps to stop scammers
When I started out in pensions in the early 1990s, there were clear demarcation lines between ‘occupational pension schemes’, established on a paternalistic, non-profit basis by employers, and ‘personal pension plans’ operated by authorised providers for commercial gain.
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OpinionA pensions power struggle
Editorial: The chancellor has pulled another rabbit out of the red case. This time it’s a tame European breed: the ‘no change on pensions tax relief ahead of the referendum’ kind.
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OpinionBuy-ins and buyouts: Always check under the bonnet
From the blog: Much like the former pensions minister, I too like shiny sports cars. If they have an enormous spoiler, personalised number plate and an attractive price tag, then so much the better.
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Opinion
Innovation within the charge cap
DC Investment Quarterly: Ever since defined contribution funds have had to demonstrate value for money to members, they have sought to drive up performance of the investment strategy while controlling volatility.