All Ros Altman articles – Page 3
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News
Johnson: With-profits a better alternative to risky CDC
Plans for collective defined contribution schemes are "a risk too far", and savers should instead be offered individual savings pots invested in with-profits funds, according to one of the architects of freedom and choice.
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Features
Is it time to return to equities?
Analysis: Investors are the most overweight in equities relative to government bonds since August 2014. Might pension schemes share in this bullish outlook on equities?
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NewsPPF praised for tough line on Toys R Us insolvency talks
The pensions industry has welcomed the tough stance taken by the Pension Protection Fund in its negotiations with struggling retailer Toys R Us, saying it will encourage companies not to take their pension responsibilities lightly.
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News
TPR gets stronger, the government weaker: Top 5 law and regulation stories from 2017
Year in review: If the UK government’s all-consuming struggle to strike a beneficial Brexit deal can bring any relief to pensions professionals, it is that departments have not had time for the pensions tinkering so despised by the industry.
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NewsFirstGroup breaks new ground by merging funds within LGPS
Transport operator FirstGroup has become the first major private sector employer to consolidate its pension funds within the Local Government Pension Scheme, as experts agree that similar mergers could be on the horizon.
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NewsLords want default guidance for pension savers
The House of Lords added more pressure to the government on Tuesday as a Liberal Democrat-led amendment to the Financial Guidance and Claims bill was passed by 283 to 201 votes.
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NewsGovernment defeated over delays to cold-calling ban
The government was defeated in the House of Lords on Wednesday night by an amendment to the financial guidance and claims bill, which sought to bring forward plans to ban pensions cold-calling.
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News
Age-based tax relief rumours met with industry criticism
Philip Hammond is understood to be considering cuts to tax relief for older workers to fund tax breaks for younger people, a move that would ‘smack of ageism’ and cause further confusion, industry figures say.
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News
PLSA proposals welcomed but superfunds still ‘a step too far’
The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association's DB Taskforce has published its final report, providing further details on the creation of superfunds, while highlighting how benefit simplification and a new chair’s statement for defined benefit scheme trustees could increase efficiency.
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Features
Where should tomorrow’s schemes allocate their assets?
Pensions Expert 20th Anniversary: In 1997, globalisation and increased investor sophistication powered a bull market that was meant to stretch beyond the confines of a regular business cycle.
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News
Government reaffirms commitment to cold-calling ban
The government has announced that it will introduce its long-promised ban on pensions cold calling “when parliamentary time allows”, putting to bed concerns that a second consultation would further delay the legislation.
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OpinionWe need action on cold-calling now
From the blog: We live in an age in which the internet finds something to promote or celebrate every day, week or month, from cupcakes to allotments. Believe it or not, there is even a world egg day.
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Opinion
What the DB green paper might (not) change
Millions of savers across the UK rely on defined benefits to fund all or part of their retirement, but threats to member security, illustrated by a number of high profile cases over recent years, are rocking the boat.
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News
Lack of savings highlights importance of state pension
The number of women retiring without a pension has dropped, new research shows, but nearly 14 per cent of people have not made provisions for their retirement, highlighting the significance of the state pension for savers.
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NewsLGPS unmarried couples discrimination unlawful, Supreme Court rules
The Supreme Court has ruled that regulations requiring unmarried Local Government Pension Scheme members to nominate a cohabiting partner in order for them to receive a survivor’s pension contravenes the European Convention on Human Rights.
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Opinion
Looking for a silver lining: Focus shifts to housing wealth as pension incomes hit a high
Analysis: Statistics seem to show that pensioners' incomes are now higher than other people's, but experts say there are many facets to the intergenerational fairness question.
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OpinionElephant in the room
Editorial: The topic of women, work and pensions remains a huge unresolved problem, as Patricia Hollis reminded the pensions community in her speech earlier this week.
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NewsGovernment urged to pick up the pieces of failing mastertrusts
The mastertrust legislation horse is being put before the cart now that the pension schemes bill has reached the House of Commons, as the debate is shifting to who will be the 'funder of last resort'.
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News
Industry finds no easy answers in dividends v deficits debate
Most FTSE 100 companies could clear their pension deficits in less than two years by withholding dividends, new research says. Experts have called for more focus on the contrast between dividend payments and deficit repair contributions, though others say there is no one-size-fits-all solution.
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News
Discrimination, indexation and tax relief's survival: Top law and regulation stories from 2016
Year in review: As if Brexit didn’t pose enough challenges, regulators, lawyers and two successive pensions ministers have had a lot on their plate in 2016.