All Policy articles – Page 2
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PodcastsPodcast: TPR should not regulate LDI despite pensions crisis
Dalriada Trustees director David Fogarty and Cartwright director of investment consulting Sam Roberts discuss the causes to the recent market turmoil that precipitated the intervention by the Bank of England, what was done to stall it, and what the future holds.
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NewsGovernment’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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NewsNew ‘pensions minister’ grilled on AE expansion and tax reform
Alex Burghart, the new parliamentary undersecretary of state at the Department for Work and Pensions, has suggested he is keen to see auto-enrolment expanded to cover emergency savings pots.
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NewsScottish Widows and Interactive Investor see green pension demand
ESG spotlight: A roundup of the latest news on environmental, social and governance initiatives, including a study from Scottish Widows suggesting green pensions are valuable for recruitment, and news that one in 10 workers have chosen a sustainable pension.
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NewsAE 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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NewsTPR updates climate risks guidance
On the go: The Pensions Regulator has updated its guidance on climate-related risk requirements to include mention of the “portfolio alignment metric”, which affected schemes have had to provide since October 1.
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NewsPPF 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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NewsPodcast: 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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NewsInflation presents ‘considerable risk’ to DC pension pots
Skyrocketing inflation figures pose unique challenges for defined contribution pension schemes as memberships surge to record highs, according to the Pensions Policy Institute’s DC Future Book.
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NewsDerbyshire among funds at risk in £138mn solar farm scandal
The Derbyshire Pension Fund is among a number of public sector institutions with members’ money invested in a scandal-hit council investment project that has seen £138mn in public money go missing.
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NewsLGA calls for mandatory national insurance data in dashboards
The Local Government Association has argued that making national insurance numbers optional data will lead to a “poor experience” for pensions dashboards users, and has called for the government to make it a mandatory feature.
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PodcastsPodcast: 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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NewsLabour would scrap pensions tax cap to boost NHS staff
On the go: Labour’s shadow Health and Social Care secretary, Wes Streeting, has pledged to do away with the cap above which NHS workers incur additional tax burdens, in a bid to dissuade experienced staff from retiring.
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NewsTriple lock, NHS and merging regulators on Liz Truss’s agenda
The new prime minister faces a host of economic problems, ranging from the cost of living crisis to the staffing crisis in the NHS as she enters Number 10, industry experts have said, with all eyes on the government’s forthcoming “fiscal event”.
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NewsBT, 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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NewsStrikes ‘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”.
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NewsLGPS calls for ‘future-proofing’ benefits against discrimination
On the go: The chair of the Local Government Pension Scheme Advisory Board, councillor Roger Phillips, has written to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities asking for reforms to discriminatory death and survivor benefits in the LGPS, and to protect the scheme against future legal challenges.
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News‘Disingenuous’ pension proposals will not fix NHS staffing crisis
The government’s proposed pension rules tweaks around “retire and return” for some NHS Pension Scheme members, in a bid to tackle the mounting staff retention crisis, have been criticised by commentators who argue that the changes do not go far enough.
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NewsCivil service union issues strike ultimatum
The Public and Commercial Services Union has threatened the government with strikes in the civil service unless it accedes to demands for improved pay, pensions and job security.