News – Page 83
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ArticleMost employers plan to auto-enrol all staff into same scheme
One in 10 employers that have auto-enrolled staff used different pension plans for executives and the rest of the workforce, according to the Employee Benefits/Capita Pensions Research 2013.But the research, which surveyed 370 HR and benefits managers, found that the vast majority of employers that have gone through, or still ...
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Kodak pension plan finalises acquisitions
The UK Kodak Pension Plan (KPP) has completed its acquisition of the Kodak Personalised Imaging and Document Imaging businesses.KPP acquired the organisations from Eastman Kodak Company and subsequently created a new organisation, Kodak Alaris.The new company will focus on strategic, ongoing investments for these organisations.The move follows KPP filing the ...
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InterContinental Hotels chain completes £440m pension buy-out
InterContinental Hotels has completed a £440-million buy out for the Intercontinental Hotels UK Pension Plan.The deal means that the benefits payable to the defined benefit (DB) pension plan’s 3,000 members, including any missing beneficiaries that emerge in the future, have been insured by Rothesay Life.The move means the plan’s members ...
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Camden and Islington NHS aims for payroll savings
Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust has appointed a new payroll and pension services provider, through which it is on track to deliver savings of 55% on the cost of its payroll provision.The trust has awarded Equiniti ICS a five-year contract to provide fully managed services to the organisation’s defined ...
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DB pension scheme deficits improve
The total deficit of UK private sector defined benefit (DB) pension schemes has fallen to £117 billion, according to research by JLT Employee Benefits (JLT EB).The organisation’s monthly index showing the funding position of all UK private sector DB pension schemes under the standard accounting measure (IAS19 / FRS17), found ...
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Employers must justify default fund selection
Employers must be able to justify why they selected the default fund for their defined contribution (DC) pension scheme and have processes in place to review it.If they do not, they must question their scheme governance, said Stephen Bowles, a representative of the Defined Contribution Investment Forum (DCIF), during a ...
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Barbon takes steps to boost pension saving
Barbon Insurance Group is encouraging young staff to start saving into its group personal pension scheme by lowering its minimum employee contribution to 1%.Speaking during a session at Employee Benefits Live on 25 September, Sarah Minter, reward manager at Barbon Insurance Group, provided tips to small and medium-sized employers (SME) ...
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Pall Europe took strong focus on auto-enrolment communications
Communication is key prior to an employer’s auto-enrolment staging date, according to Vicki Tracey, senior benefits specialist at Pall Europe.Speaking at Employee Benefits Live on 25 September at London’s Olympia, Tracey explained that the manufacturing company, which staged on 1 September 2013, found that with a largely segmented workforce comprising ...
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Auto-enrolment biggest benefits challenge
EXCLUSIVE: More than a third (39%) of respondents said preparing for auto-enrolment is their biggest objective over the next 12 months, up from 25% last year, according to research by Aon Hewitt.Its Employee benefits and trends survey 2013, which questioned nearly 350 UK HR and benefits professionals, found that other ...
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Time constraint major impediment to good DC governance
More than three-quarters (76%) of respondents said time constraints are a major impediment to good governance of defined contribution (DC) pension schemes, according to research by the Pensions Management Institute (PMI).Its research, which surveyed 175 PMI members in response to the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) call for evidence ...
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OFT publishes DC pensions market report
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has published its report on the defined contribution (DC) workplace pensions market.The report, which was launched in January 2013 to investigate whether the workplace DC pension market was working well for employees, concluded that there are problems with the market that may prevent some ...
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Employees look to employer for asset allocation decisions
Around 2.6 million people who have not yet retired are most likely to look towards their employers for help with asset allocation decisions around their retirement planning, according to research by Baring Asset Management.The research, which was conducted online among 1,581 non-retired UK adults, found that 14% of respondents said ...
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DC pensions charges report due
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is expected to publish its report on workplace defined contribution (DC) pensions on 19 September.The report is expected to call for a number of revisions to workplace DC pension schemes, including a cap on scheme charges.The publication of the report comes as the Department ...
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JLT Employee Benefits launches pensions white paper
JLT Employee Benefits has launched a white paper, which provides an analysis of the evolution of the pensions landscape in the UK since the Pensions Commission report in 2004.The paper, Achieving the 21st century pensions settlement, was launched at a panel discussion at the Liberal Democrats’ party conference on 16 ...
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Consultancy charges ban takes effect
Legislation to ban consultancy charging on auto-enrolment pension schemes came into effect on 14 September.Steve Webb (pictured), minister for pensions, signed the new regulations, which aim to give greater protection to pension scheme members.The legislation, which impacts defined contribution (DC) pension schemes used for auto-enrolment purposes, means an employer cannot ...
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Australia, UK and US have largest DC pension markets
The defined contribution (DC) pension markets in Australia, the UK and the US are the largest globally, according to research by Schroders.Its Lessons learnt in DC from around the world report investigated the universal commonalities and local distinctions in DC systems, and highlights the key concepts that determine success and ...
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DOD’s blog: Get me a tardis (and a cocktail)
On Wednesday night I had a very interesting chat to a pensions lawyer over a few cocktails at the annual Allen & Overy press party.I do not think it was the generously ginned-up drinks that made current pensions litigation trends appear interesting. In fact, the conversation quite sobered me up.It ...
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12.2m facing inadequate retirement income
An estimated 12.2 million people are facing inadequate retirement incomes, according to a report by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).Its Framework for the analysis of future pension incomes, which was published on 11 September, found that, with government reforms, such as auto-enrolment, a new state pension and increases ...
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NAPF reports on pension default fund trends
Defined contribution (DC) default funds are reviewing and overhauling their design and governance to deliver good retirement outcomes for members, according to a report by the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF).Its Default fund design and governance in DC pensions report focuses on eight employers, including Bank of America, Heineken ...
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L&G to cap auto-enrolment pension charges
Legal and General is to cap the charges for auto-enrolment pension schemes at 0.5%.The charge is to cover both the annual management charge (AMC) for administration of a defined contribution (DC) pension and the charge for Legal and General’s default fund, Multi-Asset Lifestyle Portfolio.Employers, and their employees, that select Legal ...