News – Page 76
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DOD’s blog: Are DC default funds value for money?
Yesterday the highly insightful team from the Pensions Institute at Cass Business School delivered its latest report: Assessing value for money in defined contribution default funds.I doubt it will top too many bestseller lists, but if everyone who has ever saved for a pension were to read it, it could ...
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Fujitsu uses flex to communicate auto-enrolment
EXCLUSIVE: Fujitsu has used its annual flexible benefits enrolment process to continue its pensions auto-enrolment communications.The technology organisation, which has 15,000 employees, opened its flexible benefits window in November 2013, with employees’ benefits choices taking effect from January 2014.It included details of pensions auto-enrolment in this year’s communications, in order ...
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DC pension contributions increase little in past 10 years
Average rates of contributions into defined contribution (DC) pension schemes have changed very little over the last decade, according to research by the Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA).The 2013 ACA Pension trends survey, which questioned 308 employers with more than 430 pension schemes, found that contribution rates are generally failing ...
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ArticleThe future of default funds supplement 2014
Read the digital edition of our supplement, The future of default funds 2014, in full. It includes the following articles:Simon Chinnery: The evolution of default fundsDebi O’Donovan: Employers must work with providers to deliver adequate pension outcomesAre default funds fit for purpose?What should future default fund strategies look like?Top tips ...
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ArticleDebi O'Donovan: Employers must collaborate on pension outcomes
Firstly, employers face major constraints in the pension provider market. Default funds have been evolving over the last 20 years and have yet to come into their own as a distinctive, standalone investment choice, rather than an amalgamation of legacy funds and concepts.Secondly, the defined contribution (DC) market operates on ...
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Employee Benefits Awards applaud default investments
With more employees then ever enrolled in workplace pension schemes, the pressure is on for employers to ensure that schemes are well run.If you have taken steps to offer an effective default investment strategy for your organisation’s DC pension scheme, why not receive a well-deserved pat on the back?The Employee ...
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Network Rail appoints pension administrator
Network Rail has appointed Capita Employee Benefits to provide pension administration services for two of its three pension schemes.Capita will be responsible for administering the train operater’s trust-based defined contribution pension scheme, which has around 15,000 members, and its career average re-valued earnings (Care) pension, which has around 3,500 members. ...
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Nortel Networks agrees £23m payment into UK pension
Defunct telecoms organisation Nortel Networks has reached an agreement to pay $37.5 million (£23 million) into its UK pension scheme to settle claims against relevant Nortel parties in the United States.Papers were filed on 17 December in the United States Bankruptcy Court providing details of a conditional agreement between the ...
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Ikea to make one-off €100m pension contribution for performance
Ikea Group is to pay €100 million (£83.6 million) in pension contributions in the first year of its new reward programme.The programme, Tack!, which is Swedish for thank you, aims to reward employees who have been with the home furnishing retailer for more than five years with an employer contribution ...
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BAE Systems launches online tool to manage DB pensions
BAE Systems has launched an online pensions tool to manage and monitor its obligations across all seven of its UK defined benefit pension schemes.The tool, Skyval, from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), provides organisations and trustees with real-time access to information and analysis on their pension schemes’ liabilities, assets, risk and valuations.BAE Systems ...
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Government to raise auto-enrolment threshold
The government has proposed raising the pensions auto-enrolment earnings threshold from £9,440 for 2013/14 to £10,000 for 2014/15.It has also proposed a rise in the lower and upper limits of the qualifying earnings band.Its Review of the automatic-enrolment earnings trigger and qualifying earnings band for 2014/15: support analysis, includes analysis ...
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AstraZeneca agrees pensions longevity swap
AstraZeneca has agreed a longevity swap for its defined benefit pension scheme.The arrangement provides hedging against the longevity risk of around 10,000 of the scheme’s current pensioners and covers £2.5 billion of liabilities. The longevity swap has been agreed with Deutsche Bank, and advised by Aon Hewitt.Matt Wilmington, partner at ...
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Two million UK employees are auto-enrolled
More than two million UK employees have started saving into a workplace pension scheme as a result of auto-enrolment, according to research by The Pensions Regulator (TPR).Its Automatic-enrolment monthly registration report 2013, a rolling report with data starting from July 2012, found that 3,670 employers have confirmed to TPR that ...
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Firefighters in further pensions strike
Firefighters across England and Wales are set to strike on 13 and 14 December over the government’s reforms to their pension scheme.The proposed changes, which were set out in the Public Service Pensions Bill 2013, include a move to career-average pension schemes, instead of final salary schemes, and a set ...
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Cancer Research UK appoints legal advisors to DB pension
Cancer Research UK has appointed Sackers as legal advisers to the trustees of its defined benefit pension scheme.The charity’s pension scheme is closed to new members.Graham Parrott, chair of trustees of the Cancer Research UK pension scheme, said: “Sackers impressed us with its understanding of our needs.”Ian Pittaway, senior partner ...
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Carillion Group agrees DB pension longevity swap
Support services organisation Carillion Group has entered into a longevity swap for five of its defined benefit (DB) pension schemes.The longevity swap, which covers around 9,000 pensioners and has a liability of around £1 billion, aims to hedge against the risk of rising costs as a result of the current ...
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Payroll should be responsible for pensions auto-enrolment
More than a third (39%) of respondents believe payroll departments should be primarily responsible for pensions auto-enrolment, according to research by Iris Software Group.Its research, which surveyed 100 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), found that 13% of respondents felt the legislative changes should be the responsibility of payroll and HR, ...
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Department of Health consults on pensions
The Department of Health has launched a consultation on proposed changes to the NHS Pension Scheme.These proposals include:Increases to employee pension contributions. The NHS is moving in to the final year of the three-year increases to employee contributions. The consultation outlines the proposed increases for 2014/15, which will come in ...
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Cost and administration main auto-enrolment concerns
The ease and cost of auto-enrolment administration and the cost of minimum contributions are the top business priorities around auto-enrolment, according to research by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and Standard Life.A view from the top survey, which questioned 226 chief executives and board members in organisations, found that ...
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Auto-enrolment opt outs are less than 10%
Auto-enrolment opt-out levels are less than 10%, according to research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).Its Pensions automatic-enrolment: the lessons for small and medium-sized employers research, which surveyed 399 private sector organisations, also found that the average contributions from employees and employers stand at 4% and 6% ...