All Pensions articles – Page 119
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Article
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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Article
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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Article
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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Article
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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Article
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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Article
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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Article
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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Article
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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Article
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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Article
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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Article
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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Article
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% ...
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Article
Scottish DB pension deficits double to £6bn
Defined benefit (DB) pension scheme deficits across Scotland have almost doubled over the past 12 months, from £3.2 billion to £6 billion, according to research by pensions and risk consultancy Hymans Robertson.The Hymans Robertson Scottish pension index, which analysed 27 schemes, found that 18 of these schemes were worse off ...
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Article
United Response sees 3.6% auto-enrolment opt out
EXCLUSIVE: Charity care provider United Response has seen opt-out rates of 3.6% following the implementation of auto-enrolment.Only 52 of the 1,451 employees who were auto-enrolled on 1 October 2013 opted out of its stakeholder pension scheme, which is provided by Friends Life.The organisation now has 2,618 of its 3,500 employees ...
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Article
Third of small employers worried about auto-enrolment
Two out of five (39%) of small employers are worried about the ‘damaging’ impacts of auto-enrolment, according to research by payroll software provider Sage UKI.The research, which surveyed 500 small employers, found that 40% of respondents are worried about the administrative costs of setting up and managing auto-enrolment, while 51% ...
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Case Studies
Towry creates default fund to help staff spread investment risk
The organisation has mirrored the risk profile-based investment approach that it offers to private clients when looking at retirement planning for its own staff. The strategy is a mix of different asset classes.The lifestyle investment strategy Towry created is a blend of a growth-based and a managed approach, a bond ...
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OpinionSimon Chinnery: Plenty of guidance on good governance
Evidence points to the majority of savers wanting someone to take responsibility for their investment decisions, so figures of 70-85% of scheme members opting for the default strategy are the norm. The millions of new savers entering DC for the first time as a result of auto-enrolment is likely to ...
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Article
Standard Life launches auto-enrolment product for SMEs
Standard Life has launched an online auto-enrolment product, aimed at helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to manage their legislative duties.The online product, called ’Good to go’, provides:A decision on pension scheme terms in 60 seconds.The ability to set up a new qualifying pension scheme in six minutes.Online support to ...
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Article
TPR launches consultation on defined benefit pensions
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has published a consultation on defined benefit (DB) pension regulation.Its Defined benefit consultation: setting a balance approach sets out how TPR intends to balance its new objective to minimise the impact on employers’ sustainable growth with its existing DB funding objectives.The new objective is contained in ...
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Article
Broadstone partners Standard Life for auto-enrolment product
Broadstone Corporate Benefits has partnered Standard Life to launch an auto-enrolment product for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that stage from January 2014.Employers will have access to the auto-enrolment product via Standard Life’s group flexible retirement plan.It includes:Online functionality for employers and employees.Unlimited switching for member’s investment funds.An actively-managed default ...