All pension reform articles
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News
UK pension system declining against other countries, research shows
The UK’s pension system has lost its top-10 position among global retirement systems, according to the latest Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index.
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News
TPR grows investment team and vows to 'probe' strategies
The regulator has doubled its investment consultant staff in a bid to increase its scrutiny of investment strategies as schemes seek to allocate more to UK-centric assets.
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Opinion
UK pensions: Scaling for success
Ruston Smith, chair of the Pensions Management Institute, speaks to industry experts about the huge opportunity presented by productive finance to revitalise retirement outcomes for members.
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News
Industry doubts prospect of success of Mansion House reforms
Less than a third of pension industry professionals believe the Mansion House reforms will be effective, according to the Pensions Management Institute (PMI).
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News
Defined contribution pension schemes: half of savers have no idea how to access their pot
The Institute for Fiscal Studies' (IFS) report revealed more than four in ten of those in their 50s and early 60s with defined contribution pension pots had "no idea how to access their savings".
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News
Nuclear sector DB schemes reform to go ahead after 5-year delay
The House of Lords has approved amendments to the energy bill that will allow the two nuclear public sector schemes to be reformed in line with government policy, five years after originally planned.
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News
OECD: Countries should pursue pension reforms despite uncertainty
On the go: Policy makers should pursue pension reforms despite the current economic uncertainty, as delays would put at risk the well-being of current and future pensioners, the OECD has warned.
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News
TfL sets out ‘significantly less generous’ pension reform options
Transport for London has published two concepts for the future design of its pension arrangements, while also asking that the government either reclassify past service assets and liabilities under a public sector arrangement or provide a Crown guarantee.
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News
Retirement risks make UK drop to 10th in global pensions index
The UK slipped from ninth to 10th in Mercer’s latest retirement income survey, as the long-term shift from defined benefit to defined contribution leaves members facing greater retirement risks.
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News
Government’s new illiquid rules to apply to all DC schemes
The Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed it will push ahead with a requirement that trustees must include a policy on illiquid investments in their defined contribution schemes’ chair’s statement, despite stern criticism from the industry.
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News
18,000 teachers subject to ‘challenging’ McCloud choice
Some 18,000 teachers have been made retrospectively eligible for Local Government Pension Scheme benefits by the implementation of the McCloud remedy, presenting an “administratively challenging” task for both the Teachers’ Pension Scheme and LGPS-administering authorities, according to the Local Government Pensions Committee.
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News
AE contributions not reaching those most in need
While many employers offer auto-enrolment contributions above the minimum rate, the workers that benefit are seldom those most in need, according to new research from Nest Insight.
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News
PPF to slash levy by more than £400mn in two years
The Pension Protection Fund is to slash its levy by more than £400mn by 2023-24, after a review found strong investment performance and a reduced risk of claims.
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News
Podcast: Webb - Opperman achieved but ‘got sidetracked easily’
Podcast: Former pensions minister Guy Opperman can boast a number of achievements from his time in office. But he was too easily sidetracked away from the bigger issues, such as under-saving in defined contribution schemes, and towards trivialities such as the statements season. LCP partner Sir Steve Webb gives his view on Opperman’s time as minister, and discusses under-saving in DC and a local council investment scandal.
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News
FBU urges employment tribunal to protect member benefits
The Fire Brigades Union has said it will encourage and assist its members in taking claims before an employment tribunal to protect their pension benefits, while it continues to negotiate with the Home Office for a permanent solution.
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News
Government presses ahead with NHS scheme uplifts
The Department of Health and Social Care has expanded on its plans to change the way member contribution rates are calculated and decided in the NHS Pension Scheme, launching a new consultation laying out its proposed uplifts to contribution tier thresholds.
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Podcasts
Podcast: Pension tax changes needed to save NHS from ‘rock bottom’
Podcast: Staff shortages and ever-growing waiting lists have left the NHS at “rock bottom”, but the government “has its head in the sand”. Changes to the pensions taxation regime are essential to fix the problem, argues Vishal Sharma, pensions committee chair at the British Medical Association. He is joined by Mark Bondi, council member at the Society of Pension Professionals and senior technical consultant at Capita, to discuss the NHS, the High Court’s retail price index decision, and pension priorities for new prime minister Liz Truss.
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News
BT, Ford and M&S schemes consider appealing against RPI judgment
On the go: The trustees of the BT, Ford and Marks and Spencer schemes are considering whether to appeal against the judgment handed down by the High Court, which struck down their judicial review against the government’s plans to axe the retail price index.
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News
‘Millions to lose out’ as court rejects RPI reform appeal
Industry commentators have warned that millions of pensioners stand to “lose out” after the High Court rejected a judicial review, brought by some of the country’s largest defined benefit schemes, against the government’s plans to replace the retail price index with the consumer price index including housing.
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News
Strikes ‘likely’ over TfL pension changes as funding deal reached
Changes to the TfL Pension Fund will be required as part of a financial support package agreed between the government, Transport for London and the mayor of London, with a plan to be presented in September. But unions have rejected the deal, and warned that more strikes are “likely”.