All Pensions articles – Page 135
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Article
Consultancy charges ban takes effect
Legislation to ban consultancy charging on auto-enrolment pension schemes came into effect on 14 September.Steve Webb (pictured), minister for pensions, signed the new regulations, which aim to give greater protection to pension scheme members.The legislation, which impacts defined contribution (DC) pension schemes used for auto-enrolment purposes, means an employer cannot ...
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Article
Pall Europe took strong focus on auto-enrolment communications
Communication is key prior to an employer’s auto-enrolment staging date, according to Vicki Tracey, senior benefits specialist at Pall Europe.Speaking at Employee Benefits Live on 25 September at London’s Olympia, Tracey explained that the manufacturing company, which staged on 1 September 2013, found that with a largely segmented workforce comprising ...
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Article
Auto-enrolment biggest benefits challenge
EXCLUSIVE: More than a third (39%) of respondents said preparing for auto-enrolment is their biggest objective over the next 12 months, up from 25% last year, according to research by Aon Hewitt.Its Employee benefits and trends survey 2013, which questioned nearly 350 UK HR and benefits professionals, found that other ...
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Article
L&G to cap auto-enrolment pension charges
Legal and General is to cap the charges for auto-enrolment pension schemes at 0.5%.The charge is to cover both the annual management charge (AMC) for administration of a defined contribution (DC) pension and the charge for Legal and General’s default fund, Multi-Asset Lifestyle Portfolio.Employers, and their employees, that select Legal ...
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Article
Australia, UK and US have largest DC pension markets
The defined contribution (DC) pension markets in Australia, the UK and the US are the largest globally, according to research by Schroders.Its Lessons learnt in DC from around the world report investigated the universal commonalities and local distinctions in DC systems, and highlights the key concepts that determine success and ...
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Article
Employees look to employer for asset allocation decisions
Around 2.6 million people who have not yet retired are most likely to look towards their employers for help with asset allocation decisions around their retirement planning, according to research by Baring Asset Management.The research, which was conducted online among 1,581 non-retired UK adults, found that 14% of respondents said ...
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Article
12.2m facing inadequate retirement income
An estimated 12.2 million people are facing inadequate retirement incomes, according to a report by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).Its Framework for the analysis of future pension incomes, which was published on 11 September, found that, with government reforms, such as auto-enrolment, a new state pension and increases ...
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Article
FTSE 100 chiefs' pension pot hits £4.7m
The average pension pot for a FTSE 100 director increased by £400,000 last year to £4.73 million, according to research by the Trades Union Congress (TUC).The PensionsWatch 2013 survey, which examined the pension arrangements of 294 directors across FTSE 100 organisations, also revealed that:The average accrued pension is now £259,947 ...
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ArticleWhich pensions employers are using to comply with auto-enrolment
The Employee Benefits/Capita Pensions research 2013, published on 29 July, found that 63% of respondents that still need to auto-enrol staff will use a group personal pension (GPP) plan as their primary scheme for auto-enrolment, while 33% of those that had auto-enrolled their workforce are using a GPP.L’Oreal, which postponed ...
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ArticleAuto-enrolled employers contribute less
Respondents to Employee Benefits/Capita Pensions Research 2013 that have auto-enrolled staff into a workplace pension are more likely to pay in a 1% employer contribution than those still to go through auto-enrolment.According to the research, conducted among 370 HR and benefits managers, 21% of those that have auto-enrolled staff are ...
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Article
Swallowfield appoints pension consultancy
Cosmetic manufacturer Swallowfield has appointed a pensions consultancy to provide actuarial, investment and pension administration services to its pension scheme.Punter Southall will provide these services to Swallowfield’s Aerosols International Limited Pension Plan (AILPP) scheme, which has 400 members.Paula Ambridge, chair of the AILPP trustees, said: “We were impressed with Punter ...
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Article85% saw pension costs rise post auto-enrolment
More than three-quarters of respondents (85%) saw some level of pension cost rise in relation to auto-enrolment, according to the Employee Benefits/Capita Pensions Research 2013.(This does not include respondents that have not calculated costs or those that do not know).However, the research, which was conducted among 370 HR and benefits ...
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Article
Retirement savers could be worse off with single-tier pension
The majority of people currently entitled to the state second pension will receive less when they retire as a result of the scheme being replaced by the new single-tier state pension, according to research by the Trades Union Congress (TUC).Its analysis modeled what the projected retirement incomes of people currently ...
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Article
Standard Life and Barnett Waddingham partner on auto-enrolment
Barnett Waddingham has partnered with Standard Life to develop auto-enrolment services for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with staging dates commencing in early 2014.According to the Department for Business Innvovation and Skills, it is estimated there are more than 30,000 organisations with workforces between 50-250 employees that will need to ...
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AnalysisHow employers can link benefits strategy to employees' needs
If you read nothing else, read this…Most employers do not ask their employees about their benefits needs.Employees often do not understand their own needs.Social media is a powerful tool with which to identify employees’ needs. Nick Throp, co-founder of Like Minds, says: “Employers tend to look at indicators like benefits ...
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Analysis
How popular are pension scheme guarantees?
If you read nothing else, read this…The government is seeking a pensions landscape that shares investment and outcome risk between employers and employees.Pension scheme guarantees are one proposed remedy.Critics are wary about reintroducing guarantees.But now the pensions industry consensus is that the pendulum has swung too far, and that employees ...
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Case StudiesFinmeccanica offers staff award-winning pension investment choices
In 2007, it introduced a new trust-based defined contribution (DC) scheme, FuturePlanner, for its UK staff who were joining a pension scheme for the first time.It also runs two defined benefit (DB) schemes, which are now closed to new members but open to future accrual, and wanted to bring in ...
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AnalysisWhat employers need to know about DC governance post auto-enrolment
If you read nothing else, read this …A good starting point from which to consider a high-quality, long-term DC pension is The Pensions Regulator’s Six principles for good workplace DC.Employers should consider setting up a governance committee to monitor the scheme.It is important for employers to keep track of opt-outs, ...
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ArticleEarly stagers planned for auto-enrolment earlier
Employers that still have to auto-enrol their staff have started planning for the process later than those that have already auto-enrolled their workforce, according to the Employee Benefits/Capita Pensions Research 2013.The research, which surveyed 370 HR and benefits managers, found that 62% of employers that have auto-enrolled staff began planning ...
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Article
Royal Mail managers vote against pension proposal
Almost one third (27%) of Royal Mail managers that turned out for a consultative ballot by trade union, Unite, voted against proposed reforms to the organisation’s defined benefit (DB) pension scheme. According to Royal Mail, around 5,660 of Royal Mail’s 8,300 managers are Unite members, and 50% of these members ...