All Pensions articles – Page 133
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Article
Rosemary Lemon: How do you get staff to understand how much to save for retirement?
Most of them, including me, also fancied retiring sometime between immediately and age 65. However, just how much money do you need to be able to live the life you dream of after you have finished working? Sometimes it is better to start backwards.For example, if, like me, you fancy ...
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Article
Compulsory retirement ‘might still be justified’
On 30 May 2013, the ET ruled on the Leslie Seldon case, which was brought because Seldon was required to retire at age 65 from the partnership of law firm Clarkson Wright and James.But Susan Fanning, head of DLA Piper’s employment team in London, said the case left a number ...
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Opinion
Claire Curtin: Ensure investments are managed responsibly
Many schemes also offer an ethical fund option for members. With the shift from defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC) schemes, staff should be allowed to ensure their investments are managed in a socially and environmentally responsible way.Responsible investment overall does not have to be just through an ethical ...
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AnalysisHow to choose the best default fund
If you read nothing else, read this:Tailoring default funds to the scheme membership is not just about offering ethical and shariah options.Default funds should be designed with the specific nature of the workforce in mind, because employees of different ages and salaries will have very different needs.Almost all new pension ...
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Article
Employers segment pensions for auto-enrolment
Such arrangements can be particularly effective for employers that have a diverse workforce.Gary Moore, policy adviser, defined contribution (DC) pensions at the National Association of Pension Funds, said: “It may be that there are different segments [of a scheme] for different parts of a workforce, that different segments have different ...
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Opinion
Chris Judge: Lifetime pension allowance limits changing
Members’ pension administrator will only be able to tell them whether they are nearing the lifetime limit in their current scheme, but benefits from all other schemes, both workplace and personal pensions, need to be taken into account when considering the lifetime allowance, which was introduced on 6 April 2006. ...
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Case Studies
Addaction offers flexible retirement plan
In 2007, the charity arranged a flexible retirement plan through The Pensions Trust, which now has 1,200 members.Then, in March 2013, it moved onto The Pensions Trust’s new SmarterPensions platform for qualifying workplace pension schemes in the auto-enrolment market. This uses AllianceBernstein’s target date funds as the default in an ...
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Article
Kodak pension plan settlement approved
The UK Kodak Pension Plan (KPP) has had its settlement agreement approved by the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.Under the agreement, which was announced on 29 April, Kodak’s personalised imaging (PI) and document imaging (DI) businesses will be spun off under the ownership of KPP.Steven ...
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Article
Auto-enrolment will trigger benefits reviews for SMEs
Auto-enrolment will trigger wider reviews of employee benefits among small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), according to research by MetLife UK.The study, which questioned 500 HR directors from SMEs employing fewer than 250 employees, found 51% of respondents will either definitely or probably review the benefits they offer ahead of auto-enrolling ...
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Article
Fitness First to launch master trust for auto-enrolment
Fitness First has launched a master trust pension scheme to comply with its auto-enrolment duties.The health club group will enrol nearly 700 employees into the scheme, provided by Now: Pensions, on its staging date of 1 August 2013.Neil Tune, HR director at Fitness First, said: “Finding the right partner to ...
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Article
Quarter of employers not satisfied with auto-enrolment product
EXCLUSIVE: More than a quarter (28%) of respondents believe they do not have the right auto-enrolment product in place for their organisation after reaching their staging date, according to research by Benefex.The research, which surveyed 100 employers that have already been through auto-enrolment, found that the top challenge was the ...
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Article
Most employers outsource pension administration
Three-quarters (75%) of respondents outsource the administration of their pension scheme, up from 69% in 2012, according to research by Aon Hewitt.Its 2013 Benefits administration survey, which questioned 361 employers with a combined £97 billion in pension assets and more than two million employees, found that nearly half of the ...
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Article
Jonathan Watts-Lay: Staff must make right choices at retirement
Many people are living longer, which is great news. But, with the removal of many defined benefit (DB) schemes in favour of DC, the onus is now on employees to consider their pension contributions, monitor their pension savings and, of course, choose the most appropriate retirement income option.These decisions are ...
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Article
British Airways pension deficit increases by £100m
British Airways has seen a £100 million increase in the deficit of its two defined benefit (DB) pension schemes since 2010.The combined technical deficit at 31 March 2012 was £3.3 billion, compared to £3.2 billion at 31 March 2010.The increase is due to a reduction in the interest rates used ...
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Article
Durham University launches master trust for pensions auto-enrolment
Durham University has launched a master trust to comply with its pensions auto-enrolment duties.The university introduced the scheme, provided by Now: Pensions in April 2013, enrolling its workforce of support staff in line with its staging date. Janet Robertson, payroll and pensions manager at Durham University, said: “The scheme can ...
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Article
TPR publishes auto-enrolment codes of practice
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has published guidance and revised codes of practice, which aim to support auto-enrolment by helping to ensure workplace pension scheme members receive the pension contributions they are due.The documents set out:Guidance for employers that have primary responsibility for ensuring the correct level of contribution is paid ...
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Article
Heineken appoints DB pension administrator
Heineken has appointed Capita Employee Benefits to provide pensions administration services to its Scottish and Newcastle Pension Plan, its closed defined benefit (DB) pension scheme in the UK.Capita will also provide the brewer with trustee and scheme accounting, pensioner payroll services and will carry out a data-rectification project.The DB scheme, ...
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Article
S&P 1500 pension plans hit funding highs
The aggregate pension plan deficits of S&P 1500-sponsored employers dropped to $269 billion at the end of May 2013, according to research by Mercer.The consultant’s monthly analysis of the Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) funding positions also revealed that the funded ratio (assets divided by liabilities) increased from 80% to 86% ...
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Article
Employee Benefits Awards 2013: Best DC pension default investments
Winner: Finmeccanica UKScheme: Finmeccanica FuturePlannerEntered by: P-SolveThis award recognises an employer that makes a concerted effort to offer an appropriate, effective default investment strategy for a defined contribution (DC) pension plan.Finmeccanica’s default strategy, which is driven by the organisation’s determination for its DC scheme not to be considered a poor ...
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Article
Employee Benefits Awards 2013: Best pensions change
Winner: FirstGroupScheme: The First UK Bus Pension SchemeThe judges were looking for a successful strategy that resulted in effective pensions provision for employees after a significant pensions change project.Restructuring its pension arrangements led to a £27 million saving for FirstGroup. Staff are now auto-enrolled into a defined contribution (DC) scheme ...