All Pensions articles – Page 125
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Article
Weight Watchers auto-enrols second group of staff
Weight Watchers will auto-enrol its second cohort of staff into a pension on 26 October. These will be drawn from the 1,600 people who lead Weight Watchers meetings, called ‘leaders’.To date, 5% of its 200 head office staff, who were auto-enrolled on 1 August, have opted out of the pension ...
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ArticleAuto-enrolment contributions will not be enough
If a median earner saves only at the minimum contribution rate of 8% of a band of earnings, required under auto-enrolment legislation, throughout their working life, they will have less than a 50-50 chance of achieving an adequate retirement income, according to research by the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI).Its report, ...
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Article
Employers want eligibility criteria altered for auto-enrolment
Half (50%) of respondents who have passed their auto-enrolment staging date said the number one change they would like to see to the legislation is the removal of the age and earnings eligibility criteria so that all UK workers would have to be auto-enrolled, according to research by law firm ...
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Article
Passive investment funds perform better than active funds
Passive investment funds cost less than active ones, and perform better over most time periods, according to research by investment management firm Evercore Pan-Asset (EPA).The governance revolution paper, which analysed 14 equity, bond and alternative asset classes, showed that the passive funds selected performed better than the median actively-managed fund ...
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Article
Aberdeen in talks to acquire Scottish Widows
Aberdeen Asset Management has confirmed it is in talks with Lloyds Banking Group about acquiring Scottish Widows Investment Partnership.Aberdeen Asset Management said the proposed transaction would offer substantial cost efficiencies and synergies to the business, and that it would reinforce its commitment to a progressive dividend policy and to return ...
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Article
95% of LV= pension members trust their employer
The majority (95%) of LV= pension members who completed its inaugural pension survey trust their employer to make a difference in their path to retirement.Speaking at the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) conference in Manchester on 17 October, Mike Acred, pensions manager at the insurance firm, said: “I was ...
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Article
95% not confident about reaching retirement goals
The majority (95%) of young and middle-aged adults do not feel confident they are on track to reach their retirement goals and are looking to their employers for help, according to research by State Street Global Advisors (SSGA).Its UK Defined contribution research, which surveyed more than 1,000 respondents who participate ...
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Article94% of over 55s glad to be pension savers
The majority (94%) of respondents aged over 55 who participate in a workplace pension scheme are glad they opted to do so, according to research by Aviva.Its Real retirement report, which surveyed almost 18,000 UK consumers aged over 55, examines the financial pressures affecting the UK’s three ages of retirement: ...
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Article
Trader Media to auto-enrol 310 employees
EXCLUSIVE: Trader Media Group is to auto-enrol 310 employees into its group personal pension (GPP) plan on 1 November.The media organisation, which owns titles such as Auto Trader, postponed auto-enrolment from 1 September.Currently, 700 of its more than 1,000 employees are already members of its GPP, which is provided by ...
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Article
Warburtons sees 2.3% auto-enrolment opt-out
Warburtons has had 2.3% of its auto-enrolled employees opt out of its trust-based defined contribution (DC) pension scheme, said Anne Hunt, pensions manager at the bakery, at the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) conference in Manchester on 17 October.The bakery, which has 4,500 employees across 26 sites, auto-enrolled 1,800 ...
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Article
18% want pension invested in ethical funds
Almost one in five (18%) respondents would like to see 100% of their pension scheme invested in a fund that avoids anything where there may be a negative environemental, social or goverance impact, according to research by the Ethical Investment Research and Information Service (EIRIS).Its research, which was launched to ...
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Article
Communications needed around pension contributions
This article has been supplied by Scottish WidowsThe 2013 Scottish Widows Workplace pensions report found that low levels of staff understanding around pension contributions, both in terms of their own and their employer’s contributions, has led to a fall in the amount UK workers are prepared to save into their ...
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Article
TI Group completes pension buy-in
TI Group has completed an insurance buy-in for its defined benefit pension scheme.The transaction, with provider Pension Insurance Corporation, covers around £170 million of liabilities, taking the total liabilities insured by the scheme to more than £800 million.Smiths Group, a global technology organisation, is the parent company and sponsoring employer ...
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Article
32% do not plan to comply with auto-enrolment
EXCLUSIVE: Almost a third (32%) of respondents have no intention of complying with auto-enrolment legislation, according to research by pensions consultancy Secondsight.The Secondsight Auto-enrolment survey report, which was conducted by its parent company Foster Denovo, questioned 327 respondents which are predominantly small and medium-sized employers (SMEs).The research also found:66% of ...
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Article
Royal Mail amends DB pension proposals
Royal Mail Group has amended the proposed reforms to its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme.The changes were announced to staff on 6 September, following a consultation with members of the Royal Mail Pension Plan, which began on 21 June and concluded on 25 August 2013.Under the amendments, promotional increases to ...
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Opinion
Jamie Jenkins: Auto-enrolment tips from large employers
At school, we often blamed the fictitious ‘big boys’ for everything that happened. With auto-enrolment, we will be glad the big employers did it first, and instead of blaming them, we’ll learn from them.First things first, though: let’s state some obvious ground rules. Employers come in all shapes and sizes, ...
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Article
Pension charges cap will lead to transparency
A report from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) on its investigation into defined contribution (DC) pension schemes, which is also expected to include a recommendation for a cap on charges, was due to be published soon after Employee Benefits went to press. (The report was subsequently published on 19 ...
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Case Studies
BMI Healthcare decides on new default investment strategy
BMI Healthcare has long operated a Friends Life defined contribution scheme for its 9,500-strong workforce, but the advent of auto-enrolment and the prospect of increased membership prompted the trustees to review its investment strategy in relation to the default fund.Anne Woolcott, head of employee relations and HR compliance at BMI ...
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AnalysisHow to strike the right balance of risk in default investment strategies
If you read nothing else, read this…After auto-enrolment, the regulator is becoming increasingly involved in the investment range and default funds on offer in workplace pension schemes.Most schemes use lifestyle funds, some of the traditional weaknesses of which can be overcome by using diversified, and often highly active, multi-asset investment ...
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Case Studies
LEBC stages early in order to fully understand auto-enrolment
LEBC auto-enrolled 40 employees in its pension scheme on 1 July and so far just one has opted out. It introduced the People’s Pension from B&CE for auto-enrolment purposes, which it offers alongside its existing group personal pension plan (GPP).Glynn Jones, divisional director at LEBC, says: “We have gained experience ...