All Pensions articles – Page 164
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Article
Nigel Aston: Are default funds the best option for the majority of staff?
Default funds the best option for the majority of staff, but a decade of educating members has not decreased the 80% relying on a fiduciary of some sort choosing on their behalf. People have more interesting things to do than learn the difference between gilts and equities. It should not ...
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Article
Legal and General targets staff on retirement savings ahead of auto-enrolment
Legal and General has run an initiative to educate its 7,000 staff about the importance of saving for retirement as the first phase of its communications around auto-enrolment.The insurance firm has an auto-enrolment staging date of April 2013. It has a defined benefit (DB) pension scheme, which was closed to ...
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Article
Employee Benefits Pensions and Workplace Savings Research 2012: Investment
Getting to grips with pensions and investments can be challenging for employees. With global stock markets and many economies in a state of flux, it is hardly surprising that so many pension scheme members select their plan’s default funds because they either do not want to make a decision about ...
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Article
Employee Benefits Pensions and Workplace Savings Research 2012: Schemes on offer
The demise of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes and employers’ move to defined contribution (DC) plans has been well documented. This trend can be tracked through Employee Benefits’ pensions research over the last 12 years. In our Pensions strategy research 2000, for example, 39% of respondents offered a DB scheme ...
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Article
Employee Benefits Pensions and Workplace Savings Research 2012: Retail Distribution Review
Under the Retail Distribution Review (RDR), which will come into effect on 31 December 2012, commission payments from contract-based defined contribution pension providers to benefits consultants and advisers will be banned. Instead, employers will have to pay a fee and/or commission to their consultant or adviser, agreeing upfront how much ...
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Article
More than half of employees are unaware of auto-enrolment
More than half of all employees are unaware that their employer will have to auto-enrol them into an occupational pension, according to research by Hymans Robertson.The research found that 51% of employees did not know about auto-enrolment and of those that were aware, almost half said that they had not ...
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Article
Derbyshire County Council consolidates additional voluntary contribution pensions
Derbyshire County Council Pension Fund has consolidated its additional voluntary contribution (AVC) pension scheme arrangements as part of efforts to boost take-up of AVCs.The council, which previously had three AVC plans, has retained its arrangement with Prudential.AVCs offer pension scheme members a cost-effective, tax-efficient way to increase their pension savings. ...
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Article
AWD Chase de Vere partners with accountancy firm to provide auto-enrolment advice
Independent financial advisory firm AWD Chase de Vere has entered into a partnership with the Welsh accountancy firm Ktsowensthomas (KTS).AWD Chase de Vere will provide independent financial advice to employers working with KTS, including investment and pension advice and strategies to prepare for, and implement, auto-enrolment.Stephen Kavanagh, chief executive at ...
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Article
HMRC confirms salary sacrifice pension schemes will work for auto-enrolment
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has confirmed that salary sacrifice pension schemes will meet the requirements of auto-enrolment.Previously employees entering into a salary sacrifice arrangement for pension contributions could not easily revert to their higher salary.This was generally taken to mean that employees could not opt out within 12 months, ...
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Article
63% of respondents believe auto-enrolment is a good idea
Two-thirds (63%) of respondents said that auto-enrolment is a good idea, according to research by the National Employment Savings Trust (Nest) Corporation.The research, which surveyed 1,847 employees not currently in a qualifying pension scheme, found that 16% of respondents would definitely opt out of their pension scheme once opted in ...
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Article
The Pensions Regulator reminds employers about auto-enrolment inducements
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has reminded employers about the laws related to inducing staff to opt out of retirement savings post-auto-enrolment.The law prohibiting inducements comes into effect on 1 July, although employers’ staging dates are spread out over several years.The TPR defines an inducement as any action with the sole ...
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Case Studies
Informa gets the auto-enrolment message straight
Media company Informa spent the start of this year creating a strategy outlining its auto-enrolment objectives to ensure it is fully prepared for the reforms.Informa’s official staging date is June 2013, but it will comply with the legislation in January 2013, when the first salary sacrifice deductions are made for ...
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Analysis
Auto-enrolment roundtable: Communication
If you read nothing else, read this …When trying to push the auto-enrolment message home to a younger audience, the trick is to avoid jargon.Employers must structure their communications according to the characteristics and needs of their workforce.The pension reforms are being publicised nationally, but employers must ensure their own ...
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Analysis
Auto-enrolment roundtable: Costs
If you read nothing else, read this …The direct costs of implementing auto-enrolment will depend on factors such as how many employees opt out.Payroll system upgrades and widespread communication exercises could increase the administration costs of auto-enrolment.Some employers may seek economies elsewhere in their benefits budget to cover the costs ...
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Analysis
Auto-enrolment roundtable: Ensuring compliance
If your read nothing else, read this …Some employers are taking steps, such as trying to boost numbers in existing schemes ahead of staging dates, to ensure they are not overrun once auto-enrolment starts.Compensation and benefits professionals will need to get buy-in from all parts of their organisation – HR, ...
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Analysis
Auto-enrolment roundtable: Will reforms succeed?
If you read nothing else, read this …The pension provision offered for auto-enrolment should also serve an employer’s workforce planning strategy and wider business interests.Employers that want to continue using their pension to boost recruitment and retention may have to raise the stakes and make sure their offering stands out ...
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Analysis
How does pensions auto-enrolment fit with flexible benefits?
If you read nothing else, read this…Under auto-enrolment, the main purpose for offering flex must not be to induce staff to opt out of a scheme.The communication and design of a flex scheme and the contribution structure of a pension scheme will be key to determining what is acceptable.An employee ...
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Opinion
Charles Gillespie: Auto-enrolment is not the end
This Workplace Savings Industry Forum is supplied by Close Brothers:With auto-enrolment just about upon us, discussions around saving in the workplace have generally been focused on the sponsoring employer’s pension scheme.While we cannot underestimate the importance of saving for our retirement, it is also important that employees are in a ...
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Analysis
How to get the most out of providers and advisers in the run up to auto-enrolment
If you read nothing else, read this…Employers need an auto-enrolment roadmap outlining their objectives before reviewing providers’ services.Employers should compare their pensions, HR and payroll providers’ services with the market to ensure they are most suitable for their organisation.Test providers on how they will: identify staff to be auto-enrolled, communicate ...
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Analysis
Auto-enrolment roundable: Administration
If you read nothing else, read this …Employers may spend a lot of time on the administration created by a small number of staff, such as contract workers.Even employers that already auto-enrol staff may need different processes to comply with the legislation.When auto-enrolling staff, employers could inadvertently breach protections around ...