All Pensions articles – Page 121
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Article
Buck Consultants and Wragge & Co launch auto-enrolment initiative
Buck Consultants and Wragge and Co have launched a joint initiative to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) fulfill their auto-enrolment obligations.The initiative includes:A free online questionnaire designed to capture key information.A face-to-face consultation with pensions and legal experts who will review questionnaire responses and guide organisations through a comprehensive ...
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Article
Greenery UK hires DB pension administrator
Food distributor, Greenery UK, has appointed Capita Employee Benefits to provide actuarial and administration services for its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme.The services, which are part of a three-year contract, went live on 1 October.John Priest, trustee of the pension scheme, said: “We saw [Capita] as a trusted partner and ...
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Opinion
Jonathan Dowden: SMEs do not have bandwidth to deal with auto-enrolment
Smaller employers just do not have as much bandwidth to deal with the increased demand on people carrying out the administration associated with auto-enrolment, or the increased time it takes to understand the legislation and communicate it effectively to employees.The financial burden is also something that small businesses will not ...
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Article
Firefighters strike again over pension proposals
Firefighters across England and Wales are on strike today over the government’s proposed reforms to their pension scheme.It is the fourth strike that members of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) have staged in recent weeks. Firefighters previously went on strike on 25 September, 1 and 4 November, and suspended planned ...
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Article
FTSE 350 pension deficit increases to £102bn
The estimated aggregate deficit for the defined benefit (DB) pension schemes of FTSE 350 companies stood at £102 billion at 31 October 2013, according to research by Mercer.Its Pensions risk survey found that asset values increased by £13 billion over the month, from £553 billion at 30 September 2013 to ...
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Case Studies
Cineworld extends payroll service to weekends to cope with auto-enrolment
Payroll manager Jenni Bromfield says: “We have faced a number of challenges, not least the fact that most of our staff are on zero-hour contracts and have pay that varies, so it is difficult to generate the data that determines who is eligible for auto-enrolment.“All our payroll processes are geared ...
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OpinionIan Luck: Tax guidance for auto-enrolling weekly-paid employees
But without doubt, employers of weekly-paid staff will find compliance with the regulations extremely onerous.Any employee earning more than £182 per week must be automatically enrolled, when eligible, with contributions being based upon earnings above £109 per week. With the current minimum wage at £6.19 for over 21 year olds, ...
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AnalysisThe challenges of auto-enrolling weekly-paid employees
If you read nothing else, read this…Weekly-paid employees’ eligibility for auto-enrolment is prone to change frequently because of their fluctuating pay.Employers’ payroll teams face increased workloads because of this fluctuation.HR and pensions teams need to support payroll providers to manage the workload.There have, of course, been challenges, not least of ...
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Article
Employers would support group risk auto-enrolment
More than half (52%) of respondents would support an initiative to auto-enrol employees into group risk protection products alongside pensions auto-enrolment, according to research by Group Risk Development (Grid).Its Group risk employer research, which surveyed 500 UK employers, found that 38% would consider implementing these products alongside auto-enrolment.The research also ...
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Article
Lloyds Banking Group consults on DB pension changes
Lloyds Banking Group is consulting with employees in its defined benefit (DB) pension schemes about a proposed cap on pensionable pay.The proposals, which would impact 35,000 DB pension members, would mean that these employees will be paid a pension calculated using their current salary rather than adjusting the pension in ...
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Article
Aon Hewitt launches auto-enrolment product
Aon Hewitt has launched its auto-enrolment product, A to Z.It selected insurer Zurich as the pensions provider for A to Z.The product, which has been developed for organisations that are implementing auto-enrolment in 2014, has a flat annual management charge of 0.5% for all members if they use Zurich’s default ...
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Article
Tate and Lyle enters pensions buy-in
Tate and Lyle Amylum UK Pension Scheme has entered into a pension insurance buy-in.The transaction, which covers £82 million of liabilities and more than 600 members of its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme, was concluded by Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC).The employer and the trustees were advised by KPMG.Steve Amor, head ...
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Article
Schindler Group enters pension insurance buy-in
The Schindler Group (UK) 1988 Pension Scheme has entered into an insurance buy-in.The transaction, which covers all the defined benefit (DB) pension scheme’s liabilities in respect of its current pensioners, was completed by Legal and General’s annuity de-risking business, and advised by JLT Employee Benefits and Pinsent Masons.Ashley Greensmith, chairman ...
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Article
West Cornwall Pasty Company launches master trust
The West Cornwall Pasty Company has launched a master trust to comply with auto-enrolment.The scheme, which was launched on the food retailer’s auto-enrolment staging date of November 2013, will be provided by multi-employer trust provider Now: Pensions.The master trust is available for the organisation’s 400 eligible employees.Lowri Eastgate, head of ...
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Article
Imation UK completes DB pension buyout
Data storage and electronics organisation, Imation UK, has completed an insurance buyout of its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme.The transaction, which covers £21 million of liabilities, was carried out by the Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC). The trustees of the scheme were advised by JLT.John Beckett, regional finance and administration manager ...
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Article
CIPP appoints head of pensions
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) has appointed Andy Agathangelou (pictured) head of pensions.In the new role, he will provide CIPP members with support, solutions and services to help deliver payroll, pensions and reward.Agathangelou has 25 years’ experience in pensions, which includes a role in the launch of the ...
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Article
Canada Life extends terms and conditions on group risk products
Canada Life has extended the terms and conditions on its group risk benefits that are connected to a pension scheme.The extension applies to all employers auto-enrolling employees before 31 December 2014.The provider’s terms and conditions had previously only applied to employers with 250 or more pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) employees.The terms include:No ...
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Article
Challenges around auto-enrolment postponement
The move flagged up some small print in the auto-enrolment legislation, which states employers must offer eligible employees the ability to auto-enrol into a qualifying pension scheme on their official staging date, regardless of whether or not they postpone the auto-enrolment process.The Pensions Regulator (TPR) states in its guidance: “If ...
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Article
Premier Foods closes DB pension
Premier Foods has closed its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme to future accrual.The closure, which was disclosed in the food manufacturer’s Interim management statement for the three months ending 30 September 2013, took place at the end of September to enable to organisation to better control its pension costs.The 3,800 ...
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Article
Firefighters to strike again over pensions
Firefighters across England and Wales are set to strike on 1 and 4 November over the government’s reforms to their pension scheme.The proposed pension 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 ...