All articles by Stephanie Hawthorne – Page 17
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Pension freedoms see more than £7bn withdrawn in 2018
On the go: The UK’s fondness for pension freedoms continues unabated, with £1.9bn withdrawn from pension schemes under flexible pension rules in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to the latest HMRC figures published on Friday.
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XPS: ‘GMP equalisation will be less costly than feared’
On the go: The cost of addressing inequality in guaranteed minimum pensions may be a lot lower than expected at less than 1 per cent of total liabilities for over half of all schemes, according to consultancy XPS Pensions.
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IFS: Bad assumptions damage annuity value assessment
On the go: Declining annuity sales are driven by individuals consistently underestimating how long they will live, according to new research form the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
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Government provides £329m safety net to Nest
On the go: The government has given Nest, the workplace pension provider, a contingent liability guarantee of £329m to enable it to comply with the tough new master trust regime amid accusations of unfair state aid.
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FeaturesSchools and colleges warn of ruinous £1.1bn pension hike as DfE consults
The survival of some state schools, colleges, universities and independent schools is threatened by the £1.1bn rise in the employers’ contribution to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme from 1 September 2019.
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FCA warns of looming retirement poverty prospect
On the go: Inadequate retirement incomes that do not meet consumers’ expectations remain the central challenge for the pensions industry, according to the Financial Conduct Authority.
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Fees can cut returns by 25 per cent, finds ESMA
On the go: The EU’s financial regulator has warned of the impact charges can have on savers’ returns, in a sign of further pressure on investment managers to control fees.
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Half of FTSE 100 liabilities funded to buyout levels by 2029
Full buyout was once a distant dream for many sponsors of UK defined benefit schemes.
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Master trusts slow to seek authorisation from TPR
On the go: Master trusts continue to be tardy in applying for authorisation from the Pensions Regulator, with the watchdog revealing that it has only received six applications for authorisation as at December 31 2018.
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Whitbread derisks pension scheme with £380m one-off payment
On the go: The leisure group Whitbread has agreed with the trustee of its defined benefit pension scheme, the Whitbread Group Pension Fund, to make a one-off contribution to the pension fund of up to £380m.
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144% rise in number of businesses fined for auto-enrolment errors
On the go: The number of businesses fined by the Pensions Regulator for auto-enrolment errors has climbed 144 per cent to 35,810 in 2017-18 from 14,650 in 2016-17, according to recent analysis by commercial law firm EMW.
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PPF starts payments following ECJ ruling
On the go: The Pension Protection Fund has begun to top up the compensation of members receiving less than 50 per cent of their original pension promise, following a landmark ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union.
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SFGB opens for business
On the go: The Single Financial Guidance Body launches this week, as three existing providers of government-sponsored financial guidance merge.
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ACA backs further AE reforms despite small employer opt-outs
Smaller employers expect a rise in the number of staff opting out of their auto-enrolment pension as minimum contribution rises bite, research has shown.
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UK DB deficit shows modest improvement over 2018
On the go: The aggregate accounting deficit of all UK private sector defined benefit pension schemes has shown a modest improvement over the year, according to JLT Employee Benefits, falling to £107bn at December 31 2018 from £119bn a year earlier.
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Pensions cold-calling bill passes through Parliament
On the go: Pensions cold-calling will finally be banned from January, after a string of delays in legislating against what has been a scourge of UK savers.
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Uber loses appeal over driver employment rights
On the go: Judges have dismissed an appeal against a ruling that Uber’s drivers should be treated as workers rather than as self-employed.
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Bradford accounts manager accused of workplace pension cover-up
On the go: The Pensions Regulator has bared its teeth against a Bradford-based accounts manager who allegedly covered up a failure to provide workplace pensions at a string of restaurants.
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Kingman: FRC should be replaced with new independent regulator
On the go: The Financial Reporting Council should be replaced as soon as possible with a new independent regulator with clear statutory powers and objectives, an independent review of the council has recommended.
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TPG Sixth Street Partners to invest up to £500m in Clara Pensions
On the go: Superfund Clara Pensions has announced that TPG Sixth Street Partners, a global credit and credit-related investment platform partnered with private equity group TPG, will become its provider of long-term capital.