All Pensions articles – Page 133

  • Aviva-RealRetirement-Graph-2013
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    94% of over 55s glad to be pension savers

    2013-10-01T00:00:00Z

    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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    95% of LV= pension members trust their employer

    2013-10-01T00:00:00Z

    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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    95% not confident about reaching retirement goals

    2013-10-01T00:00:00Z

    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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    Aberdeen in talks to acquire Scottish Widows

    2013-10-01T00:00:00Z

    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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    Passive investment funds perform better than active funds

    2013-10-01T00:00:00Z

    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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    Employers want eligibility criteria altered for auto-enrolment

    2013-10-01T00:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • PPI-Graphs-2013
    Article

    Auto-enrolment contributions will not be enough

    2013-10-01T00:00:00Z

    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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    Weight Watchers auto-enrols second group of staff

    2013-10-01T00:00:00Z

    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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    Goldman Sachs and Molson Coors awarded Pension Quality Mark

    2013-10-01T00:00:00Z

    Goldman Sachs and Molson Coors are the latest employers to be awarded the Pension Quality Mark (PQM), which recognises employers’ defined contribution (DC) pension schemes.The PQM standard was awarded to both employers by pensions minister Steve Webb at the National Association of Pension Funds’ (NAPF) annual conference in Manchester on ...

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    Michelin awarded PQM for fourth year

    2013-10-01T00:00:00Z

    Michelin has retained its Pension Quality Mark (PQM) for a fourth consecutive year.The award recognises the tyre manufacturer’s commitment to helping employees save for retirement through its trust-based defined contribution (DC) pension scheme.The PQM, which was launched in 2009 by the National Association of Pension Funds, recognises DC schemes with ...

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    Pension industry needs to be bold to deliver best value

    2013-10-01T00:00:00Z

    The pensions industry needs to be bold if it is to deliver increased value and the best outcome for members.Defined contribution (DC) scheme charges, in particular, need to be brought into line across all providers with greater transparency.Speaking in a panel debate at the National Association of Pension Funds’ annual ...

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    Royal London to rebrand pensions and life business

    2013-10-01T00:00:00Z

    Royal London is to ditch its UK life, pensions and investment brands and bring the businesses under the Royal London brand umbrella.Bright Grey, Scottish Life and Scottish Provident are expected to be phased out over the next two years.The organisation’s fund management division, Royal London Asset Management, will retain its ...

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    JP Morgan launches DC business

    2013-10-01T00:00:00Z

    JP Morgan Asset Management has launched a dedicated defined contribution (DC) pension business for the UK market.UK SmartRetirement offers a range of target date funds, which take into consideration member behaviour analysis and long-term market assumptions, to create default investment funds that comprise different investment types.Simon Chinnery (pictured), head of ...

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    Debbie Lovewell: Is pension charges cap enough?

    2013-10-01T00:00:00Z

    It proposed three possible options for the cap:A charge cap of 1% of the funds under management, reflecting the current stakeholder pension cap;A lower charge cap of 0.75%, reflecting the charging levels already being achieved by many schemes;A two-tier ‘comply-or-explain’ cap, which would set a standard cap of 0.75% for ...

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    DWP consults on pension charges

    2013-10-01T00:00:00Z

    The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has launched a consultation into charges on workplace pension schemes.Better workplace pensions: a consultation on charging, follows the Office of Fair Trading’s (OFT) market study into defined contribution (DC) pensions, which was published in September.The DWP’s proposals include:Mandating disclosure for pension scheme members ...

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    Employers should limit pension scheme fund choice

    2013-10-01T00:00:00Z

    Employers should limit the pension fund choice they offer employees to maximise their propensity to invest.Speaking at the National Association of Pension Funds’ annual conference and exhibition 2013, Andrew Cheseldine, a partner at actuarial consultancy, Lane, Clark and Peacock, argued that employers that offered employees too much fund choice actually ...

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    Staff confidence in pensions growing

    2013-10-01T00:00:00Z

    The UK is moving from being a nation of pension shirkers to pension savers.Speaking at the NAPF’s annual conference, Joanne Segars (pictured), chief executive of the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF), said: “I think I can see the green shoots of pensions recovery. [Auto-enrolment] opt-out rates are far lower ...

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    PTL launches DC governance products

    2013-10-01T00:00:00Z

    Pitmans Trustees Limited (PTL) has launched a suite of products to help employers establish a governance framework for their defined contribution (DC) pension schemes.The products, called ‘Lifetime: DC governance focused on members’, is a package of tools developed specifically for DC pensions, including trusteeship, group personal pension (GPP) governance and ...

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    FTSE pension schemes not diversifying

    2013-10-01T00:00:00Z

    Over the past 12 months, 85% of a selection of FTSE companies have not made any significant changes to the asset allocation of their defined contribution (DC) pension schemes, according to research by Schroders.Its second FTSE DC report, which studied the pension investment allocations of 16 FTSE 100 companies and ...

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    Mercer launches master trust service

    2013-10-01T00:00:00Z

    Mercer has launched a master trust service through its workplace savings platform.The service will enable employers to select from three providers: Aegon, Friends Life and Zurich. Service levels have been agreed with each provider.Mercer has also appointed BESTrustees as independent trustee for the service.The master trust service has been designed ...