All Opinion articles – Page 67
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OpinionKeep calm and understand your risks
From the blog: Equity markets are volatile. This is not news, but reading some of the recent pensions press you could be forgiven for thinking that it was.
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OpinionStriking a balance amid rising longevity
Talking Head: ‘The new normal’ is certainly an overused phrase in financial circles, but when it comes to considering the issue of volatility it is rather apt.
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OpinionInfrastructure projects: The potential and the risks
Infrastructure development could spur Europe’s economies into growth. Yet austerity measures have led to a lack of investment. The UK’s infrastructure investment deficit alone stands at £60bn.
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OpinionIn defence of lay trustees
From the blog: The Pensions Regulator has found that professional-only trustee boards are better run. That’s not all that surprising. However, non-professionals have lots to bring to trustee boards and their value should not be underestimated.
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Opinion
Should member communications be tailored to gender?
Women are different. It’s true, I can vouch for that, but do they need separate member communications? The top priority for trustees should be to educate their members on the value of retirement savings.
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OpinionJust say it
Editorial: Last Monday a debate took place in the House of Commons after campaign group Women Against State Pension Inequality had handed over a petition asking for transitional arrangements.
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Opinion
Corporate schemes shore up portfolios with fixed income and LDI allocations
Data analysis: UK corporate defined benefit schemes upped their allocations to fixed income in the last quarter of 2015, data show, as trustees took the opportunity to hedge out further risk by increasing liability-driven investments.
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OpinionInvestment lessons from DB
Talking Head: The last 10 years have seen a massive rise in defined contribution pension provision, fuelled by a combination of employers moving away from defined benefit schemes and the introduction of auto-enrolment.
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OpinionDefine the measures of success before going in-house
Looking only at costs, using an in-house team for part or all of a pension fund’s investment activity is tempting, but cost is only one dimension of measuring success.
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OpinionPension funds and insurers share appetite for infrastructure
For pension funds that have not yet reached self-sufficiency and for insurance companies that leverage, squeeze and manage their balance sheet, capturing a premium above government bonds within a closely monitored asset-liability-monitoring framework is a necessity.
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OpinionIntegrated risk management: Seeing the bigger picture
From the blog: What if I told you the diagram below is an example of the artistic technique of stippling – where individual dots of paint are used to build up a picture? At first glance you may not believe me, but they are virtually the same thing.
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OpinionA cold front from Europe
Editorial: Trustees had better wrap up warm: a chilly wind is blowing from Europe. A short sunny spell in Brussels last week was quickly followed by a cold front from Frankfurt, where the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority is based.
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Opinion
Funding and reinsurance emerge as biggest challenges on the road to buyout
Feature: The introduction of Solvency II last month has made buying out in full even trickier than before, but there are things trustees can do to make it more likely to happen.
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OpinionUnderstanding interest rates is key to assessing their impact
From the blog: Changes in interest rates, and more specifically bond yields, can have profound influences on defined benefit and defined contribution schemes, so it is important trustees understand how they work.
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OpinionThe end of short-service refunds: Some quirks to look out for
Changes to the rules on short-service refunds come with some quirks trustees need to be aware of. Adeline Chapman, associate at law firm Sackers, explains what they are.
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OpinionPMI: Move to cash undermines pensions as HR tool
Talking Head: Until relatively recently, retirement provision was a simple, if rather rigid, concept. Tax rules dictated that benefits could not normally be drawn until a minimum age and they had to be taken in a specific form.
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OpinionWhen knowledge is power: how to manage your advisers
Advisers' day-to-day engagement with the pensions world, together with their qualifications, mean that their pensions knowledge should be second to none. But does that make them powerful?
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OpinionInput > income > outcome
Editorial: A flurry of innovation in defined contribution scheme design has been catalysed by the pension freedoms. Glidepaths are forking out in an attempt to capture the wants and needs of this new age of retiree, while diversified growth funds continue to find homes in these newly lengthened growth phases.
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OpinionShould Britain’s pension schemes support the UK economy?
From the blog:UK pension schemes have no obligation whatsoever to help the national economy. Pension scheme trustees are legally bound to try and make investments that provide returns to pay pensions. And nothing more.
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Opinion
Altmann: Many employers going above AE minima as reform beds in
Talking Head: I’d like to start my first column for 2016 by wishing all Pensions Expert readers a happy new year, and updating you on one of this government’s major programmes.