Legal & General raises dividend as higher interest rates help it profit from pensions buyout boom March 8, 2023 Legal & General (L&) has hiked its dividend after outstripping market expectations by boosting its profits by 12 per cent. Higher profits in L&G’s pensions and life insurance segments offset lower incomes from its asset management business, LGIM, after it suffered from the impacts of market volatility. L&G upped its dividend by five per cent, [...]
State pension: Government extends National Insurance top-up contribution deadline March 7, 2023 The government has confirmed the deadline for filling gaps in state pension National Insurance (NI) contribution records will be extended from 5 April 2023 to 31 July this year The April deadline applied to back payments from 2006, but concerns had been raised people were struggling to get through to jammed HMRC phonelines. The update [...]
Just Group profits on pensions buyout boom as rising interest rates drive record deals March 7, 2023 Just Group today said the boom in pensions buyout deals had helped boost its underlying profits by 19 per cent. The Surrey firm completed 56 pensions de-risking deals, worth £2.6bn, successfully profiting on the pension’s buyout boom. Higher interest rates over the previous year have improved pension scheme funding levels, in a shift that has [...]
Pensions: Specialist insurer PIC strikes £400m Amey deal after £600m House of Fraser buy-in January 16, 2023 The specialist insurer that bought out House of Fraser’s pensions fund for £600m last year has completed a £400m deal to take over UK engineering firm Amey’s retirement scheme. Pension Insurance Corporation’s (PIC’s) deal will see the firm take responsibility for paying out 3,473 pensions, covering £400m worth of liabilities. Bulk purchase annuity (BPA) deals [...]
Work and pensions minister quits for ‘personal reasons’ January 1, 2023 Work and pensions minister Baroness Stedman-Scott has stepped down for “personal reasons”, Downing Street has said. Lady Stedman-Scott, 67, has been a minister in the department since 2019, having previously been a Government whip in the House of Lords. She is replaced by Viscount Younger of Leckie, who moves from the whips’ office where he [...]
DS Smith pumped £100m into pension scheme amid mini-budget crisis December 8, 2022 Box maker DS Smith revealed it was forced to pump £100m into its pension scheme in September as the market was shaken by the fall out of Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget.
Millions of Brits to pull back on pension to ease unprecedented ‘financial squeeze’ December 7, 2022 Close to one in four Brits with a pension are considering withdrawing money from it, or stopping paying in, or reducing the size of their contributions, to ease the pressure on their finances, according to a survey. More than two-fifths of 16 to 24-year-olds and just under two-fifths of 25 to 34-year-olds are likely to [...]
Over-50s considering returning to work due to concerns about retirement funds December 6, 2022 The overwhelming majority of over-50s are not financially set for retirement due to the pandemic and cost of living crisis. Just under two-fifths of those aged 50-54 are happy their retirement funds are sufficient, rising to 55 per cent for those 60-65. The worrying trend, highlighted in research from Handelsbanken Wealth & Asset Management, shows [...]
Moneyfarm strikes deal to fully-acquire digital advice platform Profile Pensions December 6, 2022 Online investment adviser Moneyfarm has agreed to fully acquire digital pensions planner Profile Pensions as it pushes forwards with efforts to expand its client base and services offerings. The cash-and-shares deal for an undisclosed sum will see Moneyfarm’s shareholders finance a 100 per cent takeover of the Preston headquartered pension adviser, as it seeks to [...]
Collapsed City pension firm fined millions by FCA over ‘unsuitable’ advice to British Steel workers December 2, 2022 Pembrokeshire Mortgage Centre Limited (PMC), trading as County Financial Consultants, has been fined nearly £2.4 million for unsuitable advice to consumers to transfer out of the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) and other pension schemes, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said. PMC advised 420 consumers, nearly two-thirds of whom were BSPS members, on whether to [...]