Firms’ £1.8bn bill as pension deficits grow December 18, 2014 PROFITS at Britain’s leading firms are being dragged down by sustained pension fund deficits, thanks to falling bond yields, according to a study out today from Mercer. This problem is exemplified in AA corporate bond yields, which have fallen to 3.38 per cent as measured by the Markit iBoxx >15 year index. This figure is [...]
Belgian unions strike over pension reforms December 15, 2014 Belgian unions grounded all flights, halted all trains and closed hundreds of factories and offices in a nationwide strike yesterday in protest over the government’s planned pension reforms and budget cuts. In Brussels, police held back striking workers who rioted outside the offices of Flemish separatist party N-VA, one of the four parties in the [...]
Pensioners get help to find best annuity deals December 11, 2014 PENSIONERS are failing to shop around for the best annuities deal and so are missing out on income in their retirement, the City watchdog found in a report published yesterday. Annuities themselves could offer good value to consumers, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said, as long as they sought out a good deal. To rectify this [...]
Canadian pension fund Ivanhoe Cambridge buys Deloitte’s London HQ Stonecutter Court for £112m December 8, 2014 Canada's second-largest pension fund has bought Deloitte’s City offices from Hines Global Reit for £112m as it looks to step up its exposure to the London office property market. Ivanhoe Cambridge, the real estate arm of Canada’s Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, said yesterday it has bought Stonecutter Court near Holborn. [...]
Pensioners have “stopped being poor” but their benefits will top £12bn by 2019, says IFS boss November 25, 2014 Government benefits for pensioners will cost £12bn more per year by 2019 if the current system is kept in place, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). The massive increase in spending would come about even though pensioners are on average wealthier than those still in work. The IFS argued "pensioners as a group [...]
James Murdoch steps down as Sky Deutschland chairman after pension fund questions “conflicts of interests and suitability” November 19, 2014 James Murdoch has stepped down from his role as chairman of Sky Deutschland following today's AGM. Murdoch will remain on the supervisory board, with Sky's chief executive Jeremy Darroch taking on the chairmanship role. Andrew Griffith has also joined the board as a member. The move comes two days after the Local Authority [...]
Pensions sales drive strong third quarter results for Royal London November 6, 2014 Royal London Group – the UK’s largest mutual life and investment company – posted strong third-quarter results yesterday, with pensions sales up 39 per cent year-on-year. Group pension sales were a key driver for company’s positive results, up 101 per cent to £1.72bn from the third quarter of last year. Individual pensions and drawdown sales [...]
Has the time come to privatise pensions? October 16, 2014 Future generations could be short-changed and the public finances put in jeopardy unless the UK takes serious measures to reform the state pension system, according to a report released today by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) One way to give pensioners and taxpayers a better to deal would be to revive savers' ability to [...]
George Osborne’s pensions revolution: Withdrawing cash early is big risk October 14, 2014 The insurance industry and business groups have issued a stark warning following the government’s most recent pensions announcement, claiming that withdrawing cash from pension pots too early could store up huge financial risks for the UK for years to come. Yesterday chancellor George Osborne hailed the next stage in his pensions revolution with news [...]
Lib Dems told to stop tinkering with pensions by industry body October 5, 2014 The Liberal Democrats were rapped over the knuckles by the insurance industry yesterday after the party proposed to reduce the amount of pension pot money on which tax relief could be claimed. Huw Evans, deputy director general at the Association of British Insurers, called the proposal to reduce the lifetime allowance from £1.25m to £1m [...]