Fossil Fuel divestment: The feel-good climate change policy that would undermine public pension funds September 2, 2015 Most would agree that climate change could pose a threat to the economy. However, measures to combat it will ultimately prove counter-productive if they conflict with the interests of the taxpayer. Forcing government to pursue losses from taxpayer-funded investments in the name of environmentalism, for example, would be an obvious misuse of public [...]
A pensions perfect storm is brewing – but longer lives needn’t prove a nightmare August 26, 2015 An old friend recently confided that there is one thing he is afraid of more than death – and that is living too long. Longer lifespans and low interest rates can combine to make retirement a potential nightmare of penury. Public finances face a related challenge. According to IMF research, public pension expenditure [...]
UK company pension deficits could not be plugged by annual salary of every UK employee August 17, 2015 The annual salary of every employee in the UK couldn't pay off the pension deficit of its private companies which has more than tripled in the last 15 years. The combined shortfall of the UK private sector's defined benefit schemes stands at around £900bn, up from £250bn at the start of the millennium, despite millions [...]
Annuities heavyweights Just Retirement and Partnership Assurance unveil £670m merger as pension changes bite August 11, 2015 Annuities giant Just Retirement has announced it is buying Partnership Assurance in a £670m all-share merger, after massive changes to the UK's pension regime caused sales of annuities to plummet. Shares in Just Retirement rose 1.66 per cent to 202p in early trading, while Partnership's shares jumped 8.9 per cent to 168p on the announcement [...]
Pension reforms: Drawdown customers warned over scammers August 7, 2015 George Osborne's reforms to pensions, which mean people can withdraw their savings and buy, say, a Ferrari (or just shares in Lloyds Banking Group), was seen as a revolutionary move by most savers. But it seems scammers were also pretty pleased about it: now Citizens Advice has warned pensioners and pensioners-to-be to be on alert. [...]
Lloyds, GSK and Vodafone: The 10 shares pension drawdown investors are buying up August 5, 2015 Four months after pension savers were given freedoms allowing them to withdraw their savings and invest it into other areas, they have yet to spend their pension pots on those Ferraris everyone was worried about when the freedoms were first announced. Or that's according to financial adviser Hargreaves Lansdown, anyway, which has listed the top [...]
Standard Life share price falls on hit from Osborne’s pension shake-up August 4, 2015 The insurance giant's admission that it will be hit by the government's pension shake-up sent shares down three per cent to 440.7p in mid-morning trade today. The figures In results posted this morning, Standard Life said operating profit before tax rose six per cent to £290m in the six months ended 30 June, from £274m during the same period a year earlier. The [...]
Exit fees review serves as a wake-up call to those who think pensions born in the 1990s are fit for the 21st century July 30, 2015 In April this year, pensions received a makeover Trinny and Susannah would have been proud of. Described as a revolution, the new pension freedoms aimed to wipe a tatty slate clean and give everyone as much choice with their retirement income as they could want. Pension savers are now treated like adults; to spend [...]
David Cameron launches pensions fee review as he accuses industry of charging “rip off” exit fees July 30, 2015 The Prime Minister has accused the pensions industry of charging “rip off” exit fees, saying the sector is taking advantage of pension reforms by creating a “new way of charging people”. Exit fees are currently charged when savers try to get hold of their money, which could be capped as part of a further overhaul. [...]
Pension tax relief for top earners could be at risk as government mulls reforms July 28, 2015 Pensions minister Ros Altmann said last night that the government is considering ending special pension tax relief for high earners. The government is currently carrying out a consultation into whether there is a case for reforming pensions tax relief. Currently top-rate taxpayers receive 20 per cent tax relief on their pensions, and can claim back [...]