DWP apologises after delays in pension payments September 18, 2021 Thousands of pensioners have not yet been paid their state pension because of government backlogs. People who have just turned 66 have not been paid on time after backlogs in processing applications at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Officials have apologised and said the delays were a result of the pandemic and staffing [...]
UK’s Nest pension fund launches £1.5bn private equity spending spree August 27, 2021 Workplace pension scheme giant Nest has launched a new procurement for private equity, in which it plans to invest £1.5bn – or 5 per cent of its assets under management – by 2024. The state-backed pension fund, which has £20bn assets under management and 10m members, has announced a search for fund managers for the [...]
Over 2m people receive less than £100 per week from state pensions August 26, 2021 More than 2m Brits receive less than £100 per week from state pension payments it has been revealed. Data analysed by Hargreaves Lansdown showed that millions of British pensioners are paid under the full state pension rate, which stands at £179.60 per week for those who retired after April 2016 and £137.60 per week for [...]
Triple-lock: How Boris and Rishi can both have their cake and eat it August 18, 2021 Is the triple-lock on its last legs? That question seems increasingly relevant in Whitehall. Average earnings rose by 8.8 per cent last month, including bonuses, according to figures published by the ONS yesterday. Moreover, earnings figures released next month are expected to set next year’s increase in the State Pension. So why is this relevant? The [...]
Pandemic stretches gender pension gap to nearly £200,000 August 11, 2021 Women’s retirement prospects and savings have been dragged down by the pandemic much more than men’s, widening the gap between their pensions pots by almost £200,000. On average, the difference between the average pensions of women and men aged over 55 widened to £184,000 in in the last year – up £26,000 on 2020, according [...]
FCA fines ‘seriously incompetent’ pension adviser £1.3m over steel scandal August 10, 2021 The UK’s financial regulator has issued a £1.3m fine to a pensions adviser it described as “seriously incompetent” for his work advising members of the British Steel Pension Scheme. Geoffrey Armin, who worked for Retirement and Pension Planning Services Limited (RPPS), advised a 422 customers including 183 BSPS steelworkers. In total, he advised on £125m [...]
FCA approves James Hay’s Nucleus acquisition, creating £47bn mega-platform August 6, 2021 Pensions provider James Hay gained the nod of approval from the UK’s financial regulator for its £145m acquisition of investment platform Nucleus, in one of the biggest UK deals in years. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approved Hay’s purchase of Nucleus on Friday, paving the way for their creation of a mammoth financial adviser platform [...]
Johnson and Sunak call for investment ‘big bang’ in UK to aid recovery August 5, 2021 The prime minister and the chancellor have called on the UK’s institutional investors to plough more capital into UK assets to ignite an “investment big bang” that drives an economic recovery from the pandemic. In a joint letter with Rishi Sunak, Johnson said the UK’s institutional investors should “seize the moment” and use their “hundreds [...]
No 10 insists government will stick to £4bn ‘triple lock’ pension pledge June 21, 2021 A spokesperson for the prime minister has vowed the government will not ditch the “triple lock” pension pledge, despite its £4bn price tag. Downing Street insisted that the pledge – part of the Conservative party manifesto in 2019 – will not be broken, after reports that government ministers were considering a temporary suspension to the [...]
Analysts warn Rishi Sunak: Treasury’s pensions raid could be ‘hugely risky’ June 21, 2021 The Treasury is eyeing pensions taxation as one way to pay for the cost of the pandemic, it was reported this morning. Although there are no plans to make changes to the triple lock, the Treasury is looking at three ways to change the ways in which pension contributions are taxed, which some analysts have [...]