All Pensions articles – Page 41
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ArticleDepartment of Health and Social Care to consult on changes to NHS pension scheme
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced a new public consultation on potential amendments to the National Health Service (NHS) pension scheme, designed to enable high-earning, senior doctors and surgeons to take on additional work, or continue working for longer, without the fear of tax charges impacting ...
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OpinionOliver Topping: How to spot personal data breaches and when to report them
In 2018, new data protection laws brought in a requirement for data controllers, like employers and trustees of pension schemes, to make reports swiftly after certain types of personal data breaches occur.Before rushing to pick up the phone to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) or emailing affected employees or pension ...
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ArticleSavers have accessed £28.4 billion through pension freedoms since 2015
Retirement savers have accessed approximately £28.4 billion since pension freedom reforms were introduced in April 2015, according to data from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).The Flexible payments from pensions: July 2019 official statistics report also found that the number of individuals who received flexible payments from their pensions in the ...
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ArticleBritish American Tobacco completes pension buy-in transaction worth £3.4bn
Cigarette and tobacco manufacturing organisation British American Tobacco has completed a pension buy-in transaction for its defined benefit (DB) scheme, totaling £3.4 billion.The transaction, completed with the Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC), insures the pension benefits of 10,600 members of the British American Tobacco UK Pension Fund; this includes 8,300 pensioners ...
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OpinionRosalind Connor: How will the judges’ and firefighters’ case impact pensions?
Sometimes, legal changes creep up on us when we are looking the other way. When, in December 2018, the Court of Appeal decided in favour of the judges and the firefighters in their claim of age discrimination regarding the changes the government had made to their pensions, in Lord Chancellor ...
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ArticleFinancial and insurance organisations contribute most to employees’ pensions
Financial and insurance organisations are the employers that contribute the most into employees’ pension pots, paying an average of 9.5% of an individual's salary into their retirement savings, according to research by Profile Pensions.Its analysis of employees over the age of 22 but under the state pension age, who earn ...
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ArticleFCA publishes policy statement to improve informed pensions decision-making
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has today (30 July 2019) published a policy statement confirming measures to improve informed decision-making around pension saving, in order to boost consumers’ retirement outcomes.The measures, due to come into force from 1 August 2020, are a result of the FCA’s Retirement outcomes review, which ...
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Supplier articleExcepted group life schemes - What you need to know
One aspect of your group life insurance policy which you may wish to consider is the implementation of an excepted group life insurance scheme to run alongside your current registered policy. As you may be aware, a registered group life insurance scheme counts towards an individual’s lifetime allowance total, whereas ...
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OpinionTony Pugh: Master trust consolidation implications for employers and members
One of the biggest success stories from the last five years of pensions auto-enrolment has been the growth of the master trust market, with over 14 million savers now enrolled in master trust schemes.While many providers rose to the challenge of providing well-run schemes for members and their employers, others ...
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ArticleEXCLUSIVE: GPPs are offered as the primary scheme at 66% of organisations
EXCLUSIVE: Group personal pensions (GPPs) are the most popular primary schemes for auto-enrolment purposes, offered by 66% of respondents, according to research by Employee Benefits.The Benefits research 2019, published in May 2019, surveyed 290 HR professionals, and found that GPPs have remained the most popular choice for a number of ...
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Supplier articleOvercoming the risks at-retirement: INEOS' experience
There is no doubt that freedom and choice in pensions has increased the risks and complexity for all; however retirement income can be optimised if good decisions are made.INEOS recently joined WEALTH at work to discuss the background behind this and the steps it’s taken to help their employees become ...
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ArticleGovernment to consult on gender pay gap metrics as part of gender equality roadmap
The government will review gender pay gap reporting metrics, evaluate shared parental leave and consult on providing dedicated employment rights for carers as part of its work to tackle gender inequalities.The Government Equalities Office (GEO) and member of Parliament Penny Mordaunt (pictured), the minister for women and equalities, published the ...
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ArticleSmiths Group completes pensioner buy-in transaction worth £176m
Engineering organisation Smiths Group has completed a bulk annuity buy-in transaction with insurer Canada Life.The policy insures the pension liabilities, worth around £176 million, for more than 2,000 legacy pensioners and dependents of the Smiths Industries Pension Scheme.The buy-in arrangement has been designed to de-risk the pension scheme’s liabilities; to ...
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Case StudiesRoyal Mail seeks pensions equality from collective defined contribution scheme
Royal Mail can lay claim to designing a consistent and fair pension scheme in its novel collective defined contributions (CDC) scheme. The scheme is not yet in force, but enabling legislation in Parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for Work and Pensions Guy Opperman's Pensions Bill is expected in ...
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AnalysisWhat can employers do to rebalance pension gaps in organisations?
Need to know:The UK corporate governance code was strengthened in July 2018 to oblige organisations to align new executive directors’ pensions with those available to the wider workforce.Despite political and shareholder impetus, so far executive pension rates are drifting down quite slowly, with 25% of pay viewed as acceptable. This ...
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OpinionCaroline Escott: Fair pensions policies are needed to ensure good employee morale
Gone are the days when institutional investors like pension funds, insurance firms and other large asset managers kept a low profile and quietly, passively, bought and held their shares in organisations they expected to grow over time.With analysis of environmental, social and governance practices becoming mainstream in investment management, professional ...
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Case StudiesThe benefits offered by CGI UK
The benefits offered by CGI UK:Pensions, pay and group riskA contract-based group personal pension (GPP), defined contribution (DC) scheme is used for auto-enrolment when employees reach two months of service. Minimum contributions are 9%, with at least 3% contributed by employees and 6% provided by CGI UK. This increases depending ...
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ArticleSupreme Court refuses government’s appeal in judges’ pensions discrimination case
The Supreme Court yesterday (Thursday 27 June 2019) refused permission for the government to appeal in the ongoing age discrimination case regarding judges’ pensions.In January 2017, the London Central Employment Tribunal ruled that the Ministry of Justice and Lord Chancellor had discriminated against judges with regards to changes to the ...
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AnalysisHow are ESG factors impacting pension engagement strategies?
Need to know:Awareness of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors in pensions investment is increasing as regulatory requirements push it up the agenda.Employers can align the ESG considerations in their pensions investment strategy with their own corporate and social responsibility (CSR) policies.More employee education is needed to ensure they ...
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OpinionClare James: Increasing focus on ESG factors could help engage employees with pensions
The deadline for updated statements of investment principles (Sips) on 1 October 2019 is fast approaching; this time round they will need to include the trustees’ policy in relation to economic, social and governance (ESG) and other financially material considerations. It is no surprise, then, that ESG has been a ...