Queen’s Speech plots path for pensions dashboards and new regulatory powers October 14, 2019 The government has today laid the groundwork to bring in new laws on pensions dashboards and give fresh powers to The Pensions Regulator. The Queen’s speech confirmed the government’s intention to legislate to force pension schemes to provide data for the dashboard scheme. This will eventually allow people to keep track of funds accumulated in [...]
Whitehall pressed on pension superfunds regulation October 7, 2019 The government is facing fresh doubts over legal protections for defined benefit pension schemes, as so-called superfunds angle to swallow them up. In a recent letter, pensions minister Guy Opperman was unable to say for sure that rules for pension superfunds would be in an upcoming pensions bill. The letter came in response to the [...]
New rules force pension funds to consider environmental and social factors October 1, 2019 Pension funds are now required to consider environmental and social factors when making investment decisions, under rules introduced today as part of the government’s bid to tackle climate change. New rules which have come into force this morning mean all defined-contribution schemes with more than 100 members will have to set out how they are [...]
Pension deficits fall among FTSE 350 firms but majority remain in the red August 12, 2019 Defined benefit pension deficits among FTSE 350 companies have dropped by nearly one-third in the last year, but still more than half of firms are operating on a deficit, according to research. The collective pension scheme deficit for the top 350 listed companies in Britain fell 29 per cent to £39bn last year, from £55bn [...]
Squashed: Britvic looks to cut final salary pensions August 11, 2019 Drinks producer Britvic is planning to slash the money it pays out to 6,000 members of its final salary pension scheme. The FTSE 250 firm, which produces Robinsons soft drinks, is looking for court approval to stop measuring inflation according to the retail prices index (RPI), and instead switch to the consumer prices index (CPI). [...]
FCA calls for contingent charging ban on pension transfer advice July 30, 2019 Britain’s markets watchdog has proposed banning financial advisers from getting paid only when a customer moves a pension pot, a practice known as contingent charging that it said cost consumers £2bn per year. MPs called for the ban last year after accusing the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of being too slow to prevent “vulture” advisers [...]
Regulator investigates ‘shape-shifting’ firms who shirk duties on employee pensions July 17, 2019 The Pensions Regulator said today it will hunt down companies that change their names to dodge workplace pension obligations. Several small and medium-sized employers have tried to employ “shape-shifting” tactics to avoid paying their staff’s pensions, it said. Those breaching their auto-enrolment duties could be subject to “short-notice inspections”. Read more: Prudential UK property fund delays [...]
‘Part-time pensions penalty’ slashes women’s retirement pots July 11, 2019 Women are on average £106,000 worse off in retirement than men, partly because such a high proportion work part-time, according to research. By their 60s, women typically have £51,100 in their pension – just one third of an average man’s £156,500 pot, the Pensions Policy Institute has calculated. Read more: Without action, a crisis over [...]
Rolls-Royce offloads one-third of its pension scheme to Legal & General in landmark £4.6bn deal June 6, 2019 Rolls-Royce has handed over responsibility for £4.6bn of its pension scheme to Legal & General, in a record-breaking deal. The FTSE 100 engine manufacturer has offloaded responsibility for paying the pensions of its 33,000 pensions scheme members. The scheme has a total of 76,000 members. Read more: Rolls-Royce among firms kicked off government’s late payment [...]
Wrong state pension forecasts sent to 360,000 savers after Whitehall blunder June 4, 2019 The government has admitted “significant” problems with state pension forecasts, after revealing hundreds of thousands of people have received erroneous information. Read more: Amber Rudd gives pensions dashboard project green light Three per cent of pensioners may have made financial decisions based on false information sent by the government since 2016. This amounts to about [...]