All Pinsent Masons articles – Page 2
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News
Are pensions the answer to UK’s £1tn infrastructure gap?
A solution for the regeneration of Britain’s infrastructure could come from pensions, as superfunds could help plug the UK’s £1tn infrastructure gap. However, specialists believe it will be difficult for schemes to achieve the scale needed for these investments to be successful.
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Lockdown spikes fears of democratic deficit in LGPS
As the Covid-19 crisis unfolds, there could be a worrying governance and democratic deficit in some local authority pension schemes, with only 27 per cent of councils having virtual pension committee meetings.
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Poor Q1 returns catch up on risky fiduciary managers
Fiduciary managers with heavily equity-based portfolios suffered the heaviest losses in the first quarter of 2020, as the wide variation in strategies continues to provoke discussion about the right level of growth portfolio diversification.
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NewsDWP steps in at Lloyds’ GMP past transfers hearing
Government lawyers have dealt a blow to trustees hoping not to have to apply guaranteed minimum pension equalisation to past transfers, branding the argument from Lloyds Banking Group in a high-profile court case “misconceived”.
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Return of the zombies: Can trustees ‘game’ PPF?
Defined benefit trustees linked to struggling employers face tough decisions about whether to tip their sponsors into insolvency or increase their burden on the Pension Protection Fund amid the onset of a global recession, in what experts have called a regulatory grey area.
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Ombudsman’s Royal Mail decision opens up Pandora’s box
The Pensions Ombudsman has upheld a complaint against the Royal Mail Statutory Pension Scheme for refusing to pay a deferred pension, providing a salutary lesson for employers who fail to keep adequate records.
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Pension Ombudsman awards Police Scotland employee £2,000
Lawyers have cautioned employers to keep their members fully informed of any pension benefit changes, after the Pensions Ombudsman awarded a Police Scotland employee £2,000.
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Questions remain about AE contributions in govt scheme
On the go: Government's announcement that it will cover employer auto-enrolment pension contributions for furloughed workers still leaves many questions unanswered, such as how it will operate for defined benefit schemes, an expert warned.
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Could AE contributions be paused amid Covid-19 crisis?
Halting companies’ mandatory pension contributions could form part of government remedies to support businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic, pension specialists have argued, since protecting jobs is as important as saving for retirement.
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Pension schemes to share scams intelligence online
The Pension Scams Industry Group is working with anti-fraud organisation Cifas to launch a network of open-source information on suspicious companies and pension arrangements, which specialists say could be an important step in bringing scams under control.
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City of Westminster scheme to cut equities and diversify portfolio
The City of Westminster Pension Fund has shifted its investment strategy in response to concerns about volatility in equity markets, added to a need to diversify risk and lock down an improved funding ratio.
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Pensions experts predict RPI limbo for years to come
Experts have condemned delays in publishing a long-awaited consultation on reforms to the retail price index, since its outcome could radically alter the fortunes of pension funds and pensioners.
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British Steel trustees cleared by Pensions Ombudsman
The Pensions Ombudsman has rejected a number of complaints against the trustees of the old British Steel Pension Scheme, after concluding that communications to members were not misleading and did not amount to scaremongering.
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FeaturesThe great inflation robbery: How RPI's end could sting trustees
The great inflation robbery - how trustees could be caught out by the end of RPIWhile Brexit is set to dominate the political agenda again in 2020, for the pensions industry there is another major shift on the horizon that could have a profound impact on funding levels and outcomes ...
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News
Landmark vegan case could disrupt pensions industry
A landmark ruling finding that veganism is a philosophical belief will have a wider impact in the pensions industry, experts say, but warn trustees to avoid making knee-jerk changes to their schemes.
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NewsLawyers demand simpler system to rectify drafting mistakes
Lawyers are urging reform to ease the correction of obvious drafting mistakes in pension scheme rules, after Lloyds Bank was forced to go to the High Court to avoid a £25m hit to its liabilities.
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News
Trustees receive positive sign from ombudsman on scam checks
Trustees and administrators must maintain the utmost vigilance against scammers, industry experts warn, despite a Pensions Ombudsman determination on a £367,601 loss to fraudsters favouring the ceding pension scheme.
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PPF only needs to hike benefits if member faces poverty risk
The European Court of Justice ruling on the Bauer case has been described as a “welcome relief” for the Pension Protection Fund, as the lifeboat will only have to up member benefits if the individual is living below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold.
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News
ESAB Group scheme completes £255m buy-in
On the go: The ESAB Group Limited Pension & Life Assurance Scheme has completed a £255m buy-in with Rothesay Life.
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Ombudsman: DWP failed to explain GMP downgrade to members
The Department for Work and Pensions failed to properly communicate the detrimental impact that ending contracting out had on increases for individuals with a guaranteed minimum pension, the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman has concluded.