Scrapping tax relief in favour of a matched savings scheme where, for every £1 added to a pension pot, the state puts in a fixed additional amount up to a maximum contribution per year is one of the recommendations in a new report published today by the Social Market Foundation.
The think...
Details of the key amendments to pensions and the timetable for their implementation
The Pensions Bill, which was introduced into the House of Lords on 12 January 2011, contains various key provisions in respect of pensions.
Indexation and revaluation
The Bill deals with the move towards using the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), rather than the Retail Prices Index (RPI), as...
Three out of four local government pension experts believe there is a strong case for increasing contributions from council staff into their pensions, a new National Association of Pensions Fund (NAPF) survey showed today. It attracted 149 responses, 72 of which were from those employed by...
A third of people with a workplace pension do not know how much their employer is paying into it, research published today shows.
The Attitudes to Pensions survey, conducted on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), suggests that people have a lack of knowledge about their...
Lindsay Tomlinson, in his first column as NAPF chairman, speculates on what the future might hold for pensions provision
The next couple of years are going to be absolutely crucial for the way in which pension provision develops in the UK. The current pensions model is clearly unsustainable. After the general election, the incoming government will take decisions, consciously or unconsciously, which will shape the...
Andrew Hoddinott, PricewaterhouseCoopers, finds more implications for UK pension schemes than expected in a Green Book on the Obama Administration’s fiscal plans
Father Christmas has probably not stocked up with quite as many copies of the appealingly titled US publication General Explanations of the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2010 Revenue Proposals, as he has Dan Brown’s latest offering. However, if you are starting the New Year with a...
Allison Plager, financial journalist, on the adjustments DC schemes will have to make to cope with the changes ahead for pension provision
Who can doubt that defined contribution pension (DC) schemes are in the ascendant? Defined benefit (DB) schemes continue to close, especially to new members, as sponsoring companies and trustees struggle with funding and regulation, and instead employers are turning to DC schemes which divest...
UK pension provision is in crisis. How will it fare in the future? Editor Stephanie Hawthorne chaired a round table on this important theme. Report by Ceri Jones
PensionsWorld Is defined benefit (DB) pension provision finished?
NC DB has been in decline since the late 1960s. The biggest issue is improvement in longevity and this will not go away, but the question about whether DB remains in the public sector is still open.
JM It is the beginning of...
Political consensus on pension reform seems to have come to an end says Ceri Jones, financial journalist
The majority of consultants and industry insiders now believe Personal Accounts will fail to get off the ground, according to a straw poll of pensions consultants and other experts. Political consensus has evaporated in the last few weeks as Opposition parties voice concern they could carry the...
Pension problems are mounting. Editor Stephanie Hawthorne sets the priorities for the next government
Within six months there will be a general election. Sandwiched between the enormous national debt of £100bn and high unemployment, the pensions plight of millions will struggle to get the attention of whichever government is in power, but a new Secretary of State for Work and Pensions will...
There were only a few plaudits for this year’s harvest. Ceri Jones, financial journalist, interviews the pension connoisseurs
It has been a challenging year for pensions. Pensions World asked some of the industry’s great and good to nominate 2009’s biggest triumphs and worst disappointments. Coming up with a convincing triumph left even the industry’s most resourceful personalities scratching their...
With a general election in 2010, will it be another turbulent year for pensions? Stephanie Hawthorne asks the great and the good for their predictions
Domino effect
John Ball head of defined benefits consulting at Watson Wyatt.
This time last year I was predicting we would see a significant acceleration in closure to future accrual in DB schemes. I am not sure that I am pleased to have been proved right, but this trend certainly...
The Editor welcomes short letters on all aspects of pensions and related subjects. The writer of the best letter each month will be awarded a bottle of champagne. Please write to: The Editor, Pensions World, LexisNexis, 2 Addiscombe Road, Croydon, CR9 5AF. Email: stephanie.hawthorne@lexisnexis.co.uk
Unintended consequences
“Churning” is a dirty word in the world of pensions. It implies encouragement of an action by an intermediary for no better reason than the financial gain of an intermediary.
But not all churning is bad churning. Sometimes customers are advised to shift...
The government’s tax policy will undermine senior executives’ commitment to final salary pension provision warns Param Basi, AWD Chase de Vere Consulting
The government’s intention to cut pensions tax relief for people with gross income of £150,000 or more and relevant income of £130,000 or more from 6 April 2011 could backfire badly on UK company sponsored pension provision. This could have very serious repercussions on the...
The Pensions Advisory Service
www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk
020 7630 2250
New advisers
We are pleased to welcome the following new advisers to TPAS: Andrew Cunningham, Jim Hutson, Robin Ellison, Richard Thornton and Leslie Andrews.
Despite this success in recruiting new...
Tony Bacon, Lane Clark & Peacock, assesses the possible fallout from the Minister’s statement on guaranteed minimum pension inequality problems
Those like me old enough to remember the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling in the Barber case on 17 May 1990 knew at the time that it had big implications for pension schemes. However, even the most pessimistic pension commentators may not have anticipated such extensive reverberations some...
As 70% of pension schemes close, delegates at the NAPF Investment Conference were doing some serious talking. Stephanie Hawthorne, editor, reports from Edinburgh
Last March the UK economy was at the edge of a precipice as delegates attended the 2009 NAPF Investment Conference. Twelve months on, the stock market has risen over 50%, but despite this pensions remain in a parlous state. So it was in sombre mood that Ray Martin, chairman, NAPF investment...
Fit for the Future – NAPF launches its vision for pensions
Last month the NAPF launched our blueprint for revitalising the UK pensions system in Fit for the Future: NAPF’s vision for pensions. This report sets out a series of proposals and simplifications for the UK pensions system which builds upon the principles set out in the Government’s...
What’s in store for pensions from a new Government
May was a golden month for the Westminster Press Pack. Front pages were regularly ‘held’ as the negotiations between the major parties took yet another new twist, and political correspondents rushed to write up their copy.
Never mind the front pages, political news has dominated...
More breathing space needed for pensions age rises
Our society is getting older and living longer, and a rise in the age at which the state pension starts being paid is inevitable. Labour made plans to accelerate the rise in the pensionable age, and the coalition government is looking to speed things up further. The latest proposal is that by...
