Watchdog warns financial advisers on causing ‘significant harm’ to clients January 21, 2020 Financial advisers were ticked off by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) today for causing harm to consumers. In a letter to chief executives, the FCA noted a growing number of cases where firms’ actions resulted in “significant harm to consumers’ financial well-being”. It picked out four ways in which clients could be harmed: receiving unsuitable [...]
Pension funds are putting more money into property debt December 17, 2019 When the Alternative Credit Council recently predicted that the global private debt market will be worth in excess of $1 trillion by the end of 2020, some might have called the claim a little audacious. Only seven years ago, less than £1 in every £10 lent in the UK came from an alternative lender. Today, [...]
Avoiding the mistakes of the British Steel pension scandal December 4, 2019 For those of us who haven’t been blessed with gold-plated pensions, the mere thought of sacrificing a guaranteed income in retirement might seem insane. So it may come as a surprise that around 210,000 people transferred out of defined benefit pension schemes in 2018/19, more than double compared to the previous year, according to figures [...]
DEBATE: Is it viable to pay compensation to the 1950s-born women who lost out on their state pension? November 27, 2019 Is it viable to pay compensation to the 1950s-born women who lost out on their state pension, as Labour has proposed? YES, says Debbie de Spon, communications director for Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI). 1950s-born women are suffering severe injustice because of successive governments’ mismanagement of changes to the state pension age. This issue [...]
Exclusive: Pensions minister demands simpler workplace pension statements November 1, 2019 Long, confusing workplace pension statements could be a thing of the past if a government initiative, set to be unveiled today, comes to fruition. Pensions minister Guy Opperman wants pension providers to be clearer and more concise about savers’ pension prospects, and will today warn that he will legislate if he does not see change [...]
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). [...]