Annuities may be regaining popularity, but here’s eight myths we’re still falling for June 22, 2016 Interest in annuities may be on the rebound, but research out today shows that some people might be starting out on their retirement product shopping trip with a few misapprehensions in mind. Common preconceptions unearthed by Retirement Advantage included "annuities are poor value", "I won't live long enough to worry about buying an annuity" and "I'd [...]
UK’s pension black hole grows by £120bn in the space of six weeks, as equities fluctuate ahead of EU referendum June 21, 2016 The combined black hole in the UK's pension schemes expanded by more than £100bn in the space of just six weeks, research out today has found. The analysis by Hymans Robertson revealed that the total deficit of the UK's defined benefit (DB) pension schemes rocketed by £120bn, or roughly the equivalent of five per cent of GDP, over [...]
Eleven million people would boost their retirement savings if only they knew more about this particular pensions rule change June 21, 2016 As many as 11.4m people could be encouraged to boost their pensions savings if they had more information about a rule change that came in last year, research out today has found. The study by Aegon found that a third (33 per cent) of the 4,000 people surveyed were clueless about the pension freedoms, which came into [...]
Now the PPF is warning proposed changes to British Steel Pension Scheme could set a precedent June 21, 2016 Proposed changes to the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) could set a precedent for other troubled industries, the UK's pensions lifeboat has cautioned today. Responding to an ongoing consultation into the BSPS, the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has warned that one of the options on the table – which would involve using legislation to slash [...]
Prudentials pulls back from the UK open annuity market June 20, 2016 Prudential will no longer offer annuities on the open market and only make them available to existing customers, stoking concerns it will hit individuals' ability to shop around for the best deal. The insurer said it'd stopped accepting applications for conventional annuities from non-existing customers though financial advisors on 17 June. It cited reduced demand [...]
One fifth of pension professionals aren’t confident about scheme valuations June 16, 2016 One in 20 pension professionals said their confidence levels in the asset and liability valuations of the schemes they work is less than 50 per cent, according to a global survey by investment manager State Street. And 77 per cent of survey respondents said the challenge of navigating the adoption of new investment strategies was "high" or [...]
It’s time to bring retirement into the twenty-first century June 14, 2016 Few words can stop a conversation as quickly as “retirement”. Many of us can hardly bear to think about it, never mind talk about it. Others – just under half, according to our latest Investor Pulse survey – do save for old age, but with no confidence we’ll get the income we want at the [...]
Scottish Widows reveals £630m bulk annuity buy-in deal with the ICI Pension Fund June 14, 2016 Scottish Widows announced today that it has secured a £630m buy-in with the ICI Pension Fund. The buy-in, which is essentially an insurance policy deal for pension benefits and will cover over 4,000 of the fund’s pensioner members, is Scottish Widows' largest external bulk annuity transaction to date. "We are delighted to have been chosen by the trustee of the [...]
Total deficit on pension schemes eligible to board the pensions lifeboat grew by more than £20bn in a month June 14, 2016 It could be a tight squeeze to board the pensions lifeboat, as figures released today revealed that the total deficit value of the schemes eligible to join increased by more than £20bn in a month. The latest PPF 7800 Index figures, which keep track of the funding position of the defined benefit (DB) pension schemes eligible for [...]
LV calls on government to make financial guidance at retirement age compulsory June 13, 2016 One financial services company has today called on government to make the provision of guidance to those reaching retirement compulsory. Revealing how it had responded to a Treasury consultation, LV warned that the introduction of the pension freedoms rules had made it increasingly difficult for people to assess how to handle their money during their [...]