People with ‘enhanced protection’ on pensions valued up to £1.8m could benefit from switching to fixed protection before the tax year end deadline according to Skandia. If they continue with enhanced protection, their maximum tax-free cash allowance will fall to £375,000...
UK enhanced annuity sales rose to £3.02bn in 2011, an increase of 22% over 2010, according to research by Towers Watson. Second half sales in 2011 were £1.59bn.
And the company says that consumer interest in taking out enhanced annuities - which provide bigger pensions for those with...
LexisNexis UK, the publisher of Pensions World and Occupational Pensions, has launched Lexis®PSL Pensions, the latest addition to its legal intelligence product Lexis®PSL. Designed as a single online resource with both practical guidance and key primary sources, LexisPSL Pensions enables...
The average age at which people leave the labour market – a proxy for average age of retirement – rose from 63.8 years to 64.6 years for men and from 61.2 years to 62.3 years for women between 2004 and 2010.
For men, the peak ages for leaving the labour market are 64 to 66 years. For...
The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF), CBI and TUC have sent a strongly worded letter to the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, and commissioners Barnier, Andor and Rehn.
The letter warns that the introduction of an EU Pensions Directive...
One in seven (14%) employers in the voluntary sector is still completely in the dark when it comes to auto-enrolment and their responsibilities towards employees, according to The Pensions Trust’s research.
Over 700 voluntary sector organisations and social enterprises employing over 98...
The Pensions Regulator has updated its detailed guidance on auto-enrolment and the new employer duties under pensions reform, for large employers and their advisers.
The detailed guidance, which forms part of the regulator’s suite of educational materials for all UK employers, has been...
From 6 April 2011 the annual allowance for tax relief on pension savings in a registered pension scheme has reduced to £50,000. Readers will find the calculator on the HMRC website helpful to work out their pensions savings.
High pension charges and the wrong choice of annuity could cut a saver’s potential pension income by a quarter (24%).
A report for the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) by the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) revealed that savers who did not get the best deal from these two...
The Bank of England’s extra £50bn of quantitative easing (QE) announced today will hit pensioners hard.
Indeed the yields available from UK gilts have plummeted to levels not seen since the late 1800s!
Joanne Segars, chief executive, National Association of Pension Funds, warns:
“...
Around half a million people retiring each year are being short-changed by up to £1bn from their total future pension income, because overwhelming obstacles stop them getting the best deal.
This is the key finding of a joint report Treating DC scheme members fairly in retirement? ...
People in England and Wales are living longer. There were 20,000 fewer deaths last year than would have been the case if the mortality rate had not improved according to the Actuarial Profession. Its analysis of the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, shows a further overall...
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has confirmed the accredited body status of the Pensions Management Institute (PMI).
As a result, the PMI will shortly issue statements of professional standing (SPSs) on a complimentary basis to all its members who comply with the Retail Distribution Review...
Pensions de-risking deals undertaken by the FTSE-350 last year resulted in a share price rise of 8% on average, according to research conducted by law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. The findings suggest the markets are starting to wake up to the considerable long-term benefits of...
The Prudential is predicting a big boost for pension transfers, forecasting that transferring out of occupational schemes will be one of the trends of 2012.
Stan Russell, business development manager at the Pru says: "Protected Rights will become ordinary scheme benefits from April 2012, and...
The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has published the latest version of the Purple Book.
This is the sixth edition of the publication which focuses on the risks faced by predominantly private sector defined benefit pension schemes throughout the UK.
The main focus of the 2011 publication is on...
The Pensions Regulator has made a Financial Support Direction requiring ITV to provide support for the Boxclever Group Pension Scheme, which has a deficit of £62m.
The Box Clever joint venture was set up in 2000 as a merger of the declining Granada and Thorn TV rental businesses.
Box Clever...
Around 90% of company pension scheme members are trapped in 'default' investment funds.
Results from JLT 250 Club research, show that improving member outcomes from fund choices would require better scheme practices.
80% of respondents felt there needed to be a significant or...
A key package of regulation to help employers prepare for automatic enrolment into workplace pensions is published today. This package, follows the revised timetable for automatic enrolment published last week. With regulations in place, the legislative framework underpinning these...
The Department for Work and Pensions has published its response to the consultation on the final regulations to implement the auto-enrolment regime today (1 February).
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: “These are the final building blocks in the pensions auto-enrolment regime....
