News – Page 60
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ArticleIBM granted appeal against pension judgement
IBM has been granted permission to appeal both the breaches and remedies judgements made by a High Court in February 2015 to the higher courts.The decision made by the High Court ruled that members of the organination’s UK defined benefit (DB) pension scheme would be able to claim damages against ...
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Article
Barclays C&ES closes to new business
Employee benefits consultancy Barclays Corporate and Employer Solutions (C&ES) will cease to offer its services to new business following a consultation by Barclays. Its benefits consultancy services and auto-enrolment consulting will close and will not be open to new employers.Barclays will continue to honour existing employer client commitments within these ...
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ArticlePensions seen as safest way to save for retirement
Workplace pension schemes are now seen as the safest way to save for retirement, according to research by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).Its Wealth and assets survey found that confidence has increased with 40% of individuals citing a workplace pension as the safest option to save in the period ...
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ArticleTata Steel improves DB pension plans
Tata Steel has made a new offer to employees, which will see its final salary pension scheme remain open and avert strike action.More than 17,000 employees that are members of trade unions Community, Unite, the GMB and UCATT were due to walk out for 24 hours on 22 June.The dispute ...
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ArticleFirstGroup has largest DB pension liability among FTSE 250
FirstGroup has one of the largest defined benefit (DB) pension scheme liabilities among employers in the FTSE 250, according to research by JLT Employee Benefits.The FTSE 250 and their pension disclosures report found that the travel operator’s scheme is a risk to the business due to pension liabilities of £4.6 ...
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ArticleGovernment to encourage higher pension contributions
The new Conservative government will encourage employers and employees to increase their pension contributions with incentives, according to Chris Curry, director at the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI), who will be speaking at the Employee Benefits Wired Post-Election Pensions Update.Curry also believes that the government is likely to give a lot ...
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Article17,000 Tata Steel staff to strike over pensions
More than 17,000 Tata Steel employees will strike on 22 June in an ongoing dispute over the organisation’s pension scheme changes. The action will include a ban on overtime and work-to-rule will be carried out next week by employees.The dispute is over the closure of the steel workers’ final salary ...
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ArticleNAPF appoints Lesley Williams new chair
The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has appointed Lesley Williams its next chair.She will succeed Ruston Smith, whose two-year tenure will end at the NAPF’s annual general meeting (AGM) in October 2015. Williams will assume her responsibilities after the AGM for a two-year term.Williams is group pensions director at ...
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ArticleTata Steel staff vote in favour of industrial action over pensions
Tata Steel employees have voted in favour of industrial action over the closure of its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme to future accrual.The official ballot took place on 6 May and closed on 29 May.As of December 2014, the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) had 143,000 members, with 17,004 making ...
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ArticleOne in five not saving for retirement
A fifth (20%) of UK employees are not saving anything towards their retirement, according to research by Scottish Widows.The 11th annual Scottish Widows Retirement report, based on responses from 5,191 UK adults, also found that retirement savings have reached a record high, with 56% of respondents now saving adequately.The average ...
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ArticleNext generation of retirees expect to be £3,000 a year worse off
The next generation of retirees, those aged 45-to-55 years old, expect to be worse off in retirement by a fifth (18%) compared to those leaving the workplace in 2015, according to research by insurer Prudential.Its research, which surveyed more than 1,000 people, found that respondents in the 45-to-55 age group ...
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ArticleLifestyle default funds fall 9% in four months
Lifestyle pension default funds have lost 9% of their value in four months, according to research by Hargreaves Lansdown.Its study, which is based on the average rate of return for all Hargreaves Lansdown savers using a lifestyle fund, also estimates that 720,000 pension savers are currently invested in default funds.The ...
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ArticleGovernment plans action to cap pension freedom charges
The government is planning action to ensure pension scheme members accessing the pension freedoms are not charged excessive early exit fees.It will launch a consultation in July to ensure penalties are kept to a minimum and scheme members are treated fairly when moving their pension to a provider that offers ...
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ArticlePension scheme members withdraw £1 billion from pots
Pension scheme members have withdrawn more than £1 billion from their pension pots since the introduction of the new freedoms in April 2015.Chancellor George Osborne (pictured) announced that more than 60,000 people have made use of the reforms, which allow members of defined contribution (DC) schemes aged over 55 to ...
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Article35% who have used pension freedoms are still working
Around a third (35%) of workers who accessed the pension freedoms in the first month after they came into effect in April 2015 were still working at the time, according to research by Hargreaves Lansdown.Its study, which surveyed 304 employees who drew pension benefits in the first weeks after the ...
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ArticlePension reforms impact slows down but DC landscape changes
But according to the Defined Contribution Investment Forum’s At-retirement solutions for the new pensions era report, published in April, the impact of the reforms on scheme redesign has been more limited than expected.It also found that many schemes are planning to introduce self-select options for each possible retirement option now ...
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ArticleMost talked about news in May 2015
The agreement comprised cash contributions of £270m per year.The supermarket also consulted with employees on plans to close its DB pension scheme and replace this with a defined contribution (DC) scheme.“There is no doubt about it that the current scheme is one of the best, if not the best, on ...
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ArticleUncrystallised pension lump sum biggest challenge
Complying with HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) reporting standards around withdrawal of Uncrystallised Fund Pension Lump Sum (UFPLS) is the biggest technical challenge for providers, according to research by retirement solutions provider Dunstan Thomas.The poll, which was conducted in May 2015, found that 40% of the 15 providers surveyed view ...
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ArticleHigh Court dismisses appeal against BBC pensionable pay cap
The High Court has dismissed an appeal against the BBC after the organisation imposed a 1% cap on increases in pensionable salary in a bid to reduce its defined benefit (DB) pension schemes deficit.In the case of Bradbury v British Broadcasting Corporation, the High Court ruled that the BBC conduct ...
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ArticleHigh Court rules Granada has to pay directors’ pensions top up
The High Court has ruled that a pensions top-up arrangement set up to provide security for unfunded pensions promises for four ex-directors at Granada Group did not require shareholder approval to be considered viable.The case, Granada Group v Law Debenture Pension Trust Corporation, concerned a secured unfunded unapproved retirement benefit ...