News – Page 17
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ArticleSiemens completes £530 million pensions buy-in transaction
German manufacturer Siemens has completed a £530 million buy-in for its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme, securing pension benefits for more than 2,000 UK-based retirees.The agreement, secured with Legal and General, builds on a previous transaction agreed in 2018.The DB scheme sits under an umbrella contract to ensure that potential ...
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ArticleFamily Building Society completes £30 million defined benefit transfer
Family Building Society has completed a pension transfer to its Defined Benefit (DB) Complete Master Trust, from its previous DB scheme. The £30 million scheme, successfully agreed with TPT Retirement Solutions, will bring its 350 members onto the scheme, with 66 currently active in a cash balance section.The move is ...
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ArticleConfessions of a benefits manager: Candid arranges crisis pensions training
The way Big Bad Boss is carrying on you would think there was a global financial crisis. Well, there is a global financial crisis, but surely this is a time for leaders to calmly steer us to a safer place, not to run around like lost children. Sadly, the Higher ...
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ArticleCountrywide Farmers completes £100 million bulk annuity transaction
Countrywide Farmers has agreed to a £100 million bulk annuity transitions for its retirement benefits scheme for 360 deferred members and 712 retirees. The scheme was first initiated in March 2018, entering a pension protection fund, negotiated with Legal and General. The successful deal enables the organisation to secure benefits ...
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ArticleVodafone completes DC pension transfer for 45,000 members
Telecommunications business Vodafone has completed a pension transfer of 45,000 members of its UK defined contribution scheme to a master trust arrangement.Previously, Vodafone ran its own single-employer trust-based DC scheme for its members but wanted to provide greater flexibility for members at retirement, as well as provide more environmental, social ...
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ArticlePremaberg Holdings completes £5 million bulk annuity transaction
UK manufacturer Premaberg has completed a £5 million bulk annuity buy-in of Premaberg Holdings Retirement Benefits Plan with Just Group.The deal, which was completed in conjunction with Mercer, is the first step to securing the defined benefit (DB) pension retirement funds of the 64 members that will be affected by ...
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ArticleTPR increases pension standards and protection of members
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has improved pension industry standards, and protected more schemes than ever before, according to its 2019-2020 Annual Report and Accounts (ARA).The ARA has showcased that the organisation has successfully completed national auto-enrolment, placing 98% of employees onto a pension scheme. Through introduced master trusts, 16 million ...
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ArticleHMRC publishes guidance on GMP equalisation
HMRC has published guidance on guaranteed minimum pension (GMP) equalisation, providing clarity into how schemes should distribute lump sum benefits when looking to equalise payments.This guidance has been published to explain to schemes how they can handle lump sum payments aligned with changes to GMP, after many schemes were left ...
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ArticleHouse of Lords approves Pension Schemes Bill
The House of Lords has approved the Pension Schemes Bill, which is aimed at improving protection for pension savers and ensuring more guidance for businesses. The bill will now be taken through the House of Commons later this year.The bill will ensure occupational pension schemes are accommodating for climate and ...
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ArticleKeep updated with the mini-Budget 2020
Chancellor Rishi Sunak will deliver his mini-Budget speech at approximately 12.30 pm on Wednesday 8 July 2020.He will be expected to discuss further plans to get the UK economy back on track to help businesses and the UK population deal with the financial ramifications of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.Stay tuned ...
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ArticleBrandsby Agricultural Trading Association completes £13 million bulk annuity transaction
Brandsby Agricultural Trading pension scheme has completed a £13 million bulk annuity buy-out transaction with Legal and General.The buy-out transaction has secured the benefits of all 120 members under the scheme. The trustees appointed Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM) as fiduciary manager in 2018. The trustees were advised on ...
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ArticlePension savings have increased by 35% since 2017
The average pension pot in the UK for employees in large firms is now £120,000, a 35% increase from 2017, according to research by Close Brothers.The study of 200 employees, published June 2020, also found that average savings and investments has fallen by 3%.Over the three year period, on average ...
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ArticleEXCLUSIVE: 73% of employers offer group personal pension schemes
Just under three-quarters (73%) of respondents offer a group personal pension (GPP) scheme for auto-enrolment, making it the most popular type of pension scheme that is offered.The Employee Benefits research 2020, published in May 2020, which surveyed 269 HR decision-makers, found that this has been the most popular pension scheme ...
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ArticleGeneral Healthcare Group completes £150 million insurance scheme buy in
The trustee of the General Healthcare Group (GHG) Pension and Life Assurance plan has completed a £150 million insurance scheme buy in.The deal, which the organisation secured with Aviva, covers all of its 700 defined benefit (DB) members. In 2008, the trustee hired scheme secretariat firm Inside Pensions to provide ...
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Article88% of employees participated in workplace pensions during 2019
Overall, 88% of eligible employees (19.2million) participated in a workplace pension in 2019, an increase from 87% in 2018, according to research by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).The analysis that looked at all members of all qualifying workplace pension schemes, occupational pension schemes, group personal pensions (GPPs), and ...
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ArticleNissan consults on closing defined benefit pension scheme for 1,800 staff
Japanese car manufacturer Nissan is consulting on the closure of its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme for 1,800 employees in the Sunderland region.The organisation has made the decision to end the scheme as the business investment is deemed unsustainable long-term.Nissan is currently consulting on the closure of the plan with ...
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Article3i Group completes £650 million pension scheme buy-in
The Trustees of the 3i Group Pension Plan have completed a £650 million pension scheme buy-in.The buy-in transaction with Legal and General covers the benefits of 280 pensioners and 570 deferred members and will be held as an asset of the pension plan.The Trustees, were advised by Lane Clark and ...
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ArticleTribunal rules non-cash contributions are not eligible for pensions tax relief
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has won a case at an Upper Tier Tribunal, which ruled that non-cash (in-specie) contributions are not eligible for pensions tax relief.In-specie contributions are where assets such as property or shares are transferred to a pension without first being converted to cash. Self-invested personal pension ...
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ArticleLeonardo Electronics completes £160 million pension scheme buy-in
Electronics organisation Leonardo Electronics has completed a £160 million buy-in pension scheme with Just Group.This is the first buy-in for the scheme, which has been obtained in an attempt to reduce risk while still offering new benefits to active employees.This deal benefits 1,253 members with non-trivial annual pensions in the ...
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ArticleTPR allow trustees to freeze pension transfers for three months
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has made changes to regulations to support employers and trustees as they work to meet the challenges of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.Trustees of defined benefit (DB) schemes will be able to suspend cash equivalent transfer value activity for up to three months.According to the regulator, if ...