Budget 2017: Philip Hammond could raise the pensions Lifetime Allowance to fund social care and end inheritance tax discrimination to improve the nation’s finances March 1, 2017 The weeks leading up to George Osborne’s Budget statements were filled with frenzied speculation. Famed for his tinkering, the former chancellor’s Budgets enshrined a number of eye-catching and popular reforms, including landmark pension freedoms, and some not so popular ones, such as a reduction in the amount an individual can put into their pension and [...]
BHS pension scheme: Sir Philip Green has said he will contribute £363m, but what happens next? February 28, 2017 Sir Philip Green might be paying up £363m to sort out the gap in the BHS pension schemes, but that’s not the end of the saga for the fallen retailer. What options do those with BHS pensions now have? The 19,000 scheme members have three options to mull; transferring to a newly created pension scheme, [...]
Pensions triple lock: Labour calls for government to preserve payment structure beyond 2020 February 28, 2017 Labour will today demand that the government guarantees the pensions triple lock beyond 2020. In a speech on intergenerational fairness, Debbie Abrahams, Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary, will say the current commitments by the Conservative government are not enough. The triple lock increases state pension payments annually by either inflation, average earnings growth or 2.5 per cent, whichever is highest. The [...]
The City boss running around for retirees: Clive Bannister on being a Phoenix from the ashes and providing a happy ending for pensioners February 27, 2017 Phoenix Group’s chief executive wasn’t looking forward to his morning commitments on 28 March 2014. “I was due to make a presentation to a rather hostile audience,” says Clive Bannister, the head of the FTSE 250 closed-book life insurer. “They didn’t want to think very kindly about Mr Bannister.” And Bannister’s day was about to [...]
Hoover looks to offload pension scheme, including a possible push into the pensions lifeboat February 26, 2017 Hoover is mulling plans to hand its pension scheme over to the pensions lifeboat in an attempt to save its ailing finances. There are almost 5,800 defined benefit pension schemes in operation across the UK, but around 4,200 of them are in deficit, dragging on many companies' finances. Now, The Sunday Times has reported electronics firm [...]
With possible changes to the way that some defined benefit pensions are indexed against inflation, there may never be a better time to cash yours in February 22, 2017 Your gold-plated final salary pension may lose some of its shine, if the ideas put forward in a new government consultation come to fruition. In a green paper on the future of defined benefit (DB) pensions, published on Monday, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) discusses the option of allowing pension scheme trustees the freedom [...]
A growing gap between what men and women receive in employer pensions contributions is causing a £47,000 shortfall for women February 22, 2017 A gap between the amount men and women receive in employer pensions contributions means there will be a near £47,000 shortfall by the end of a woman's working life. According to the Zurich Workplace Savings Barometer, a mass study of 250,000 pension plans, last year on average, men under the age of 35 received £217 [...]
Gresham House launches a platform for pension funds that want to make an impact February 21, 2017 Mammoth pension funds are to be able to invest into smaller, socially responsible projects through a new platform announced today. The initiative has been created by AIM-quoted investment house Gresham House and has attracted cornerstone interest from Berkshire's local government pension fund, alongside a 20 per cent shareholding the fund has agreed to take in Gresham House itself. Larger pension funds [...]
Government mulls handing watchdog more powers over struggling pension schemes, but experts warn suggestions not enough to prevent another BHS-style fiasco February 20, 2017 The government is considering handing the pensions watchdog more powers to regulate struggling or badly governed pension schemes. The Department for Work and Pensions' green paper on 'Security and Sustainability in Defined Benefit Pension Schemes', which was published today, is asking for feedback on a variety of pension issues. These include whether to extend the Pension [...]
BMW bosses meet union reps for crunch talks to avoid strike chaos at Mini and Rolls-Royce February 20, 2017 BMW bosses meet with union representatives today in a bid to avoid industrial action in a row over what Unite has described as "pensions robbery". Unite has warned BMW to brace itself for "serious industrial action" involving some 7,000 car workers should the car company "continue to ignore their concerns". Strikes are on the horizon at BMW [...]