News – Page 103
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JLT to take over Aegon’s DB pension portfolio
JLT Benefit Solutions will take over the ongoing provision of services to Aegon’s portfolio of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes.The portfolios have an asset value of £710 million and contain 25,000 members.The partnership will see 100 Aegon staff transfer to JLT in early 2013.Duncan Howorth, chief executive at JLT Benefit ...
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Prudential partners Nest and Now: Pensions
Prudential UK has partnered with the National employment savings trust (Nest) and Now: Pensions to offer pension auto-enrolment options to employers.The financial services provider is working with Nest and Now Pensions to provide organisations with diverse workforces the option of a dual-scheme approach to complying with auto-enrolment.David Caw, head of ...
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Over-50s too optimistic about DC pension pots
Over-50s with defined contribution (DC) pension schemes are too optimistic about the amount of retirement income they will receive, according to research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).The report, Expectations and experiences of retirement in defined contribution pensions: a study of older people in England, supported by the National ...
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Over £60 billion invested in underperforming pension funds
Some of the UK’s largest individual pension funds are failing to deliver value for money, according to research by Hargreaves Lansdown.Its Pension investment performance report found that tens of billions of pounds are invested in the UK’s largest pension funds, which have underperformed over the last 10 years.Over the last ...
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Aegon launches range of lifestyle funds
Aegon has launched a range of core lifestyle funds, which aim to provide more certainty about the size of annuity investors can buy as they near retirement.The seven Core Risk Profile Lifestyle Portfolios, which have been designed in conjunction with Morningstar OBSR, each have a different risk profile. The funds ...
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Government plans defined ambition pension
The government has set out proposals to rebuild confidence and trust in workplace pensions.Its paper, Reinvigorating workplace pensions, contains new ideas for sharing the risks more equally between employer and employee, and for helping UK workers get the most out of what they save in a pension.The report includes more ...
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Paradigm offers GPP alongside corporate wrap
Paradigm Group is to offer an off-platform group personal pension (GPP) plan alongside its corporate wrap platform.The GPP, which is provided by Aegon, is intended to give employers an alternative if the platform approach is not appropriate for them.Anthony Morrow, partner at the Paradigm Group, said: “We are pleased to ...
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Towers Watson adds to DC pensions consulting team
Towers Watson has appointed Andrew Cashmore and Martin Knight as DC consultants in its defined contribution (DC) pension consulting team in the north of England and Scotland.Cashmore, who has more than 20 years’ experience in pensions, joins from Buck Consultants, where he worked for the past 15 years as senior ...
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A third of respondents are not saving
More than one-third (35%) of respondents do not contribute to any kind of savings vehicle, according to research by Now: Pensions.The research, which was carried out through an online survey of 2,033 UK adults, found that one in four (27%) respondents said they will face a shortfall in their pensions ...
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The Pensions Trust appoints investment provider
The Pensions Trust has appointed AllianceBernstein as the investment provider for its auto-enrolment product, SmarterPensions.Its auto-enrolment-compliant defined contribution (DC) scheme will be launched in March 2013 and is intended to provide a platform for the pension provider’s qualifying workplace pension schemes.The scheme will use AllianceBernstein’s target date funds as its ...
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Aegon launches RDR-ready pensions
Aegon UK has launched a flexible pension plan and a group personal pension (GPP) plan that are compliant with the retail distribution review (RDR).Under the RDR, which takes effect from 31 December 2012, pension providers will no longer be able to remunerate independent financial advisers (IFAs) and employee benefits consultants ...
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JLT Growth Fund available for use in GPPs
JLT has made its growth fund available to members of group personal pension (GPP) plans.Aegon is the first pension provider to offer this option for employers to include in their GPP investment selection.The JLT Growth Fund was launched in May 2012 for individuals wanting a diversified growth fund.Paul Armitage, head ...
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ABI launches annuity rates consultation
The Association for British Insurers (ABI) has launched a consultation on proposals to conduct a regular survey on annuity rates to help those reaching retirement get a good deal.The consultation follows the launch of the ABI code of conduct on retirement choices, in March 2012, which requires its members to ...
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AIB asks former directors to reduce pensions
Allied Irish Banks (AIB) has written to its former senior executives to request they voluntarily reduce their pensions as part of its plans to lower its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme deficit.The bank first announced its plans in the AIB 2012 Half yearly financial report, which was published on 31 ...
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Projected worth of pensions to fall sharply
Employees who are members of personal pension plans will see the projected worth of their pension pots fall sharply from 2014.The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is to reduce the projected annual growth rates from April 2014, which will affect plans such as self-invested personal pensions (Sipps) and stakeholder pension schemes. ...
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PQM awarded to three more employers
Three more employers have been awarded the Pension Quality Mark (PQM), which recognises good quality defined contribution (DC) pension schemes.Global biopharmaceutical firm Bristol-Myers Squibb was recognised with the PQM for its group personal pension (GPP) plan. Controls and process automation firm Koso Kent Introl and national charity Motability were awarded ...
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ArticleLow-paid workers have poorer pensions provision
Low-paid workers are less likely to belong to a workplace pension scheme, and those that do have lower employer contribution rates, according to research by the Trades Union Congress (TUC).The TUC Pensions scorecard report, which examined the membership, contribution rates and governance of workplace pensions across the UK, found that ...
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Consultations launched on changes to Nest
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and National employment savings trust (Nest) Corporation have launched consultations on amendments to the Nest pension scheme.The DWP consultation seeks views from employers, employees and pension industry professionals on proposed amendments to Nest, including clarifying that employers can voluntarily cease to participate in ...
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Auto-enrolment cost and admin top employer concerns
More than 80% of corporate advisers said that the cost and administration of auto-enrolment are the top worries for employers preparing for the pension reforms, according to research by Aviva.Its Corporate adviser survey also found:67% of respondents said employers are concerned by the cost of meeting the long-term compliance requirements.38% ...
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UK DB funded status improves
The funded status of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes in Canada, the Netherlands and the US has declined since December 2011, while the UK has experienced improvements, according to research by Mercer.The greatest decline has occurred in the Netherlands, where the funded status has fallen from 96% to 80%, followed ...