All Pensions articles – Page 161
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Article
Asda focuses on auto-enrolment administration
Auto-enrolment planning must include a focus on the administration systems needed to run a scheme, warned Jane Earnshaw, head of reward at Asda, during a session at Employee Benefits Live.Asda is due to go live with its auto-enrolment scheme on Monday, 1 October.Earnshaw advised organisations that are starting to make ...
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Article
Informa educates staff on pensions
A robust communications strategy will help employees make informed decisions about pensions, said Thomas Humphris, head of office HR and UK reward at publishing firm Informa.Speaking at Employee Benefits Live on 25 September, Humphris said that it was important that communication with employees about the auto-enrolment changes was easier to ...
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Article
Employers need longer to plug pension deficits
Organisations will need an extra three years to plug rising pension scheme deficits, taking the average repayment period to 11 years, according to research by accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC).The research, which covered 98 recent defined benefit (DB) pension scheme valuations, found that, there will be a reversal of previous years’ ...
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Case Studies
Golden Gates Housing Trust pilots RTI
Working with its payroll provider, Software for People, the social housing provider completed the RTI process in April after volunteering to take part in HMRC’s pilot scheme involving 10 employers.Sarah Moorcroft, finance and administration offi cer at Golden Gates, says the data cleanse and system updates required for RTI have ...
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Opinion
Catherine Wilson: Legal issues around auto-enrolment
Under the new rules, employers will need to keep additional records for compliance purposes. These can be either electronic or paper-based, but they must be legible and easily reproduced.Additional information may be needed, such as dates of birth for casual workers, and some data-cleansing may also be required.Employers should review ...
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Opinion
Sarah Ozanne: Legal issues around auto-enrolment
New employee protections have come into place that apply to all employers, regardless of their staging date. It is notclear that employers are generally engaged on this issue.The auto-enrolment regulations are complex and do not fit well with other pension regulations. Some amendments have now been made to align existing ...
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Opinion
Martin Freeman: Payroll issues around auto-enrolment
Employers should be proactive and get on the front foot rather than waiting around for press releases from their payroll provider on what it will be offering.Go to the provider and say: ‘This is what I am going to need, this is how I want to operate: can you help?’Get ...
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Opinion
David Woodward: Payroll issues around auto-enrolment
Many employers have needed to make changes to their payroll systems and to consider whether their payroll provider can offer what is needed to comply with auto-enrolment regulations.One of our customers has been diligent in its evaluation of the options, thorough in its planning activity and engaged theright professionals at ...
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Analysis
Expert tips on surviving pensions auto-enrolment
If you read nothing else, read this…The first organisations to reach their staging date for auto-enrolment have had to make both expected and unexpected changes to their systems.Planning for auto-enrolment should begin well in advance to allow time to tackle any issues that may arise.Communicating with staff about changes is ...
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Article
Auto-enrolment anomalies warning
Organisations that use contractors must identify whether such people are contractors or should be treated as workers for legal purposes. If they are classed as workers, they will need to be auto-enrolled into the organisation’s pension scheme.Mark Baker, senior associate at law firm Pinsent Masons, said: “There was a recent ...
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AnalysisAre payroll providers up to the pensions auto-enrolment task?
If you read nothing else, read this…Employers have high expectations of their payroll providers ahead of auto-enrolment.Employers must have a clear understanding of the auto-enrolment requirements they have for their payroll provider.Payroll providers face the challenge of preparing for both auto-enrolment and real-time information (RTI).Auto-enrolment has arrived and, as implementation ...
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Article
600,000 more pension savers by Christmas
Around 600,000 more people will be saving into a workplace pension scheme by the end of 2012 and following the implementation of auto-enrolment legislation, according to figures by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).It also estimated that, by May 2015, the number of people saving for retirement will be ...
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Article
Scottish Widows launches auto- enrolment product
Scottish Widows has launched an auto-enrolment product to help employers of all sizes comply with the incoming auto-enrolment legislation.AssistMe, which is powered by technology by SBC Systems, will enable employers to add other pension schemes, such as The People’s Pension or the national employment savings trust (Nest), alongside Scottish Widows’ ...
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Article
Ashmore Group raises pensions take-up with wrap
Ashmore Group has seen a 43% increase in the number of staff making voluntary contributions to their pension schemes since the launch of a corporate wrap.The Corporate Vantage scheme, provided by Hargreaves Lansdown, was introduced to replace the investment management firm’s existing group self-invested personal pension (Sipp) arrangement.Employees are able ...
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Article
Thomsons Online Benefits launches auto-enrolment service
EXCLUSIVE: Thomsons Online Benefits has launched an auto-enrolment service for employers.The service provides employers with the employee benefits providers’ Darwin technology, which can conduct assessment of employees’ pension eligibility and then auto-enrol them into the pension scheme.It also includes:Consultancy support on preparing for the changes and restructuring an employer’s reward ...
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Article
DWP launches consultation on auto-enrolment thresholds
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has launched a consultation on the auto-enrolment thresholds for 2013/2014.The consultation comes as the UK’s largest employers prepare to auto-enrol their staff into workplace pension schemes.It sets out the revision factors that the secretary of state may take into account in the annual ...
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Article
Mears Group prepares for auto-enrolment
Social housing repairs and maintenance provider Mears Group is to launch a super trust pension scheme in preparation for its auto-enrolment staging date of 1 March 2013.The People’s Pension, provided by B&CE, will be available to the organisation’s 10,000 employees.Andrew Smith, finance director at Mears Group, said: “We have chosen ...
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Article
Jelf launches auto-enrolment guides
EXCLUSIVE: Jelf Employee Benefits has launched a series of guides to help employers navigate the changing landscape of pensions in the UK.The series, Making sense of workplace pension reforms, reflects the nine sections of The Pensions Regulator’s (TPR) guidance for professional advisers.It is designed to make the topics accessible for ...
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Article
World’s largest pension funds grew by less than 2% in 2011
Total assets of the world’s largest 300 pension funds grew by less than 2% in 2011, according to research by Towers Watson and US investment newspaper Pensions and Investments.The P&I/Towers Watson global 300 research found that the growth in assets in 2011 was the lowest since 2003, except for a ...
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Article
UK directors' average pension pot is $4.3m
Directors of the UK’s FTSE 100 companies have built up pension pots worth an average of £4.3 million, according to research by the Trades Union Congress (TUC).The tenth annual PensionsWatch survey, which analysed the pension arrangements of 351 directors from FTSE 100 companies, found that the average transfer value for ...