All Spence & Partners articles
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NewsPPF seeks admin and actuarial services company
On the go: The Pension Protection Fund has launched a tender to appoint a new company to join its specialist administration and actuarial services panel, which provides assistance to the lifeboat fund and schemes when they enter the PPF assessment period.
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NewsSchemes retaliate over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Some of the UK’s most prominent pension schemes are dialling down their exposure to Russian assets in response to its attack on Ukraine.
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NewsHow will the new pension transfer restrictions work?
The new pension transfer rules coming into force on November 30 will bring added duties for pension scheme trustees, and will not be a panacea to prevent scams, specialists warn.
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NewsLPPA embarks on data journey and reaps rewards of digital tracing
Case study: A renewed effort to ramp up digital tracing and mortality screening has been a boon to the Local Pensions Partnership Administration, with the exercise having the potential to cut costs, save time and improve actuarial valuations.
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News
Barclays Bank coughs up £750m in unusual DRC move
In an unusual arrangement, Barclays Bank UK Retirement Fund’s deficit recovery plan remains on track through a self-investment, as the scheme subscribed to a £750m bond issued by an entity of the banking group.
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News
TPR in discussions with Plumbing trustees over governance failures
The Pensions Regulator has been in discussions with the trustees of the Plumbing and Mechanical Services Industry Pension Scheme, who face criticism for governance failures amid a long-running debacle that could send plumbers into bankruptcy.
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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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News
Northumberland and Tyne and Wear schemes plan merger
The government is planning to merge the Northumberland County Council Pension Fund into the Tyne and Wear scheme, in a move that would generate savings of up to 12 per cent a year.
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News
LGPS returns to drop by almost half in next decade
As the world faces global meltdown and investors are set to receive lower and more volatile returns for the next decade or more, new research suggests that some local authority pension schemes may be overestimating their potential growth.
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News
Charge cap could be a barrier to CDC, experts fear
A collective defined contribution pension scheme for Royal Mail employees is inching closer to the starting gate, but an amendment to the pension schemes bill to impose a charge cap could derail other nascent CDCs from ever getting off the ground, according to experts.
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News
Hertfordshire LGPS employer agreement sidesteps cessation debt
A housing association has avoided a potentially crippling £3m cessation debt to the Local Government Pension Scheme via an innovative agreement with the scheme’s local administering authority.
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News
TPR presses Church of England for shorter deficit recovery
The Pensions Regulator has dismissed the idea of the Church of England employers reducing their deficit contributions, after a change in the valuation method used in one of its defined benefit schemes resulted in a shortfall decrease from £236m to £50m.
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News
Trustees vindicated in RPI/CPI switch complaint
The Pensions Ombudsman sided with pension scheme trustees in two separate cases over the decision to switch their inflation measure away from the retail price index.
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NewsPlumbers call for trustee chair to resign over pensions debacle
An action group is calling for the resignation of Alan Pickering CBE as chairman of the Plumbing and Mechanical Services Industry Pension Scheme.
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News
LGPS pension bill to rise 1% with McCloud case
Fears that a legal case over discriminatory pensions could dent the funding of the Local Government Pension Scheme have been partially allayed, after preparations for the plan’s valuation found that liability increases will be limited.
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News
Scottish plumber’s plight highlights ongoing Section 75 issue
The boss of a small Scottish plumbing company is the latest to receive a bill of more than £1m to cover a shortfall in a multi-employer defined benefit scheme.
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News
Workplace DC ‘should favour venture capital despite risks’
On the go: Workplace savers may be missing out on opportunities for better returns if their pension schemes avoid venture capital, a report published on Wednesday has claimed.
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NewsLGPS 2019 valuation to see new pressures on affordability
Addressing a room of stakeholders in the Local Government Pension Scheme, Jeff Houston has some good news and some bad news on the scheme’s 2019 valuation.
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Features
UK charities feel strain of DB scheme funding
Data crunch: UK charities are feeling the strain of defined benefit funding – with the average FRS102 pension deficit equalling almost a fifth of unrestricted assets across the 40 largest charities by income in England and Wales.
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NewsCharity blames insolvency on pension costs and local govt rules
A charity in Northern Ireland has announced it is closing this month, citing pension costs and a lack of flexibility in the region's local government scheme as the reason behind its insolvency.