All Sackers articles – Page 4
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OpinionGearing up for GMP equalisation
Guaranteed minimum pensions are still causing a lot of head-scratching in the pensions industry. While the High Court confirmed in October 2018 that pension benefits do need to be equalised for the effect of GMPs, practitioners have since been thinking about how to ensure that schemes are able to implement equalisation smoothly.
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News
DOIs: Could a cup of coffee lead to £1m DB fine?
A lack of clarity on proposed new legislation means a meeting over a cup of coffee to discuss a corporate transaction could cost an employer up to £1m in civil fines if a declaration of intent is not made in advance, according to law firm Pinsent Masons.
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News
L&G master trust default goes green due to member demand
On the go: The Legal & General Mastertrust is switching its default investment strategy to take account of environmental, social and governance risks, after a study revealed almost 60 per cent of its members favour the approach.
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Features
Caffyns appoints fiduciary manager and overhauls portfolio
Trustees of the £86m Caffyns Pension Scheme have appointed a fiduciary manager to improve the performance of the fund’s assets, leading to a restructuring of its investment portfolio.
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PodcastsPodcast: ESG - Trustee investment duties explained
Podcast: New regulations coming into force this year mean pension schemes will be required to publish more-detailed statements of investment principles. These will address financially material environmental, social and governance risks, such as climate change. In this episode, Stuart O’Brien, a partner at law firm Sackers, discusses recent ESG-related developments, the danger of conflating ethical matters with ESG considerations, and explains how schemes can respond to member and pressure group queries.
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News
Merseyside goes green with £400m multi-factor equity allocation
Merseyside Pension Fund has committed £400m to a new climate-friendly multi-factor fund, developed in collaboration with FTSE Russell, as part of its strategy on managing environmental, governance and social risks.
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News
Reuters Pension Fund completes £625m pensioner buy-in
The trustee of the Reuters Pension Fund and Thomson Reuters have completed a £625m full pensioner buy-in for the scheme, in the biggest annuity transaction yet for insurer Canada Life.
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News
Civil partner LGPS survivor benefits set to match widows
Survivors of same-sex civil partnerships and same-sex marriage will receive the same survivor benefits as those provided to widows under new proposals for the Local Government Pension Scheme.
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NewsDWP scraps plans for schemes to check members’ ethical views
Controversial plans by the government to force trustees to outline how they have taken members’ ethical views into account in their investment strategies have been scrapped, it was revealed on Monday.
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Opinion
DC Debate Q3: Updating asset allocations
In the second part of this quarter’s debate, our five DC professionals look beyond the traditional bond and equity portfolio to consider issues including diversified growth funds, alternatives and ESG.
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Opinion
DC Debate Q3: Getting the right amount of risk in defaults
In the first instalment of this quarter's DC Debate, five experts dive into the appropriate amounts of risk and diversification for defined contribution members at various points in their savings journey.
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News
Lookers merges defined benefit schemes
UK motor resale company Lookers has amalgamated two of its defined benefit pension schemes, as experts highlight the improved efficiency and cost savings associated with mergers.
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OpinionSchemes must be prepared for an interventionist regulator
Even before the publication of the Department for Work and Pensions’ recent consultation on developing “a stronger Pensions Regulator”, it was becoming increasingly apparent that the regulator means what it says with its new “clearer, quicker, tougher” mantra.
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Features
Making ESG part and parcel of the DC investment process
Earlier this year, the Environmental Audit Committee wrote to the UK’s largest 25 pension schemes to ask how they manage the risks climate change poses to retirement savings.
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News
Government sets out proposals for trustee ESG investment duties
Trustees will be expected to publish a statement on how they take account of scheme members’ ethical views, if proposed requirements floated in a government consultation are implemented.
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News
SNP bill seeks PPF support for orphan liabilities
A private members’ bill submitted by Scottish National Party MP Alan Brown last week could see the Pension Protection Fund taking on so-called orphan liabilities from multi-employer pension schemes.
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NewsPlumber wins workers' rights case
The Supreme Court has upheld a verdict that Gary Smith, a former contractor who carried out work for Pimlico Plumbers between 2005 and 2011, was indeed a worker at the company and was consequently entitled to workers’ rights there.
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FeaturesCommodity of the future: Does water have a place in pension portfolios?
In North America, an inconspicuous object the size of a tennis ball has yielded significant returns for investors in what might be considered the world's cheapest, and also the most critical, commodity.
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News
Seeking members' ethical views could muddy DB waters, experts say
The Environmental Audit Committee has proposeda requirement for schemes to actively seek the views of their members when producing their statement of investment principles, a move experts say could complicate matters for defined benefit trustees.
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Opinion
How can schemes assess employer covenant strength?
Darren Redmayne chuckles good-naturedly, at what must be the thousandth time a journalist has asked whether the FTSE 100’s recently revealed accounting surplus means their defined benefit pension problems have gone away.