Recently added articles from Pensions Week:
News: LGPS funds help raise GBP1bn for FTSE 350 firms.
Jun 29, 2009 ... Byline: David Rowley Twenty pension funds have raised GBP1bn to loan to FTSE 350 companies hit by the collapse in syndicated loans from banks. The money has been raised through the M&G UK Companies Financing Fund, which has been seeded with a further GBP500m from ...
News: Wanted!
Jun 29, 2009 ... Pensions Week is looking for your ideas on hybrid or middle-way occupational schemes. We will publish all ideas on www.pensionsweek.com, with the selected best ideas published in a special edition of the magazine in October. We want to raise awareness of the choices ...
This week: So what would you do better?
Jun 29, 2009 ... Byline: David Rowley - Editor There is an Indian proverb that an idea that is not shared is an idea lost. So, I hope many of you will take part in our project to collate new models for workplace retirement provision. We will make all ideas public for perusal this autumn on ...
News: 'Bogus' schemes claim leads to 11 arrests.
Jun 29, 2009 ... Byline: Charlie Kirby Investigations into bogus pension schemes has led to the arrests of 11 IFAs and self-invested personal pensions (Sipp) operators. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) revealed that nine men and two women were arrested for suspected fraudulent reclamation ...
News: Solvency II could hit providers' annuity rates.
Jun 29, 2009 ... Byline: Charlie Kirby Only providers that didn't exercise prudence when allocating their annuity portfolios will suffer from Solvency II, according to Mick McAteer. McAteer, director of the Financial Inclusion Centre, said the European Regulator is only attempting to ...
News: BT scheme buoyed by alternative investments.
Jun 29, 2009 ... Byline: Tom Willetts Alternative investments boosted returns at the BT Pension Scheme last year, while derisking strategies tempered exposure to the market fallout. The scheme's annual report reveals that long-term investment targets in hedge funds, commodities, ...
News: Tories vow to help DB at CBI conference.(Conference news)
Jun 29, 2009 ... Byline: David Rowley The Conservatives are looking into legislation that will encourage the establishment of more industry-wide pension schemes. The proposal is aimed at making final salary schemes more sustainable for companies and was one of several new ideas ...
News in brief.
Jun 29, 2009 ... The pioneering longevity swap between the Babcock International's Devonport Royal Dockyard pension scheme and the investment bank Credit Suisse has begun. The swap was due to be completed by the end of May, but was delayed for four weeks due to "data problems". The ...
News: Committee urges rethink on tax cap.
Jun 29, 2009 ... Byline: Tom Willetts An influential parliamentary committee has "serious concerns" about changes to the taxation of pension contributions, which were introduced in the Budget. Chancellor Alistair Darling in April scrapped tax breaks on pension contributions for ...
News: Letter: More choice for annuitants.
Jun 29, 2009 ... Mike Morrison's view on the variable annuity market raised some interesting points, in particular his recognition that annuity buyers benefit little from mortality cross-subsidy before the ages of 68-70. This is backed by mortality statistics that suggest the chances of today's ...
News: Firms urged to err on side of caution.
Jun 29, 2009 ... Byline: Tom Willetts Companies and trustees must use prudent assumptions to avoid triggering additional scrutiny when submitting deficit recovery plans, the Pensions Regulator has warned. In a statement to the industry, the regulator emphasised the assumptions used ...
News: Letter: Emerging market allocations.
Jun 29, 2009 ... In your June 22nd edition, you asked trustees (Trusty30, Q3) their reaction to my view that emerging markets allocations should be 50%. The logic, following the argument for GDP weights, is that emerging markets are likely to be over 50% of global GDP within 10 years. There was a dissent ...
News: Larger firms threaten to swallow boutiques.
Jun 29, 2009 ... Byline: Tom Willetts Boutique investment firms that have sprung up over the past few years may be vulnerable to takeover by larger organisations, according to Hymans Robertson. In a report on its annual survey of fund managers, the firm also expects larger fund ...
News: PPF keeps promise to not raise levy in real terms.(Conference notes)
Jun 29, 2009 ... Byline: Tom Willetts The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has honoured a previous commitment that next year's levy will not increase in real terms. Speaking at the Confederation of British Industry's annual pensions conference, PPF chief executive Alan Rubenstein ...
News: Fiduciary service will support DB trustees.
Jun 29, 2009 ... Byline: Tom Willetts A fund manager has launched a fiduciary management service for defined benefit (DB) pension schemes with small to medium-sized sponsors. Under the terms of the service, Investment Solutions will take on trustees' investment decisions and manage ...
News: DC set to overtake DB.
Jun 29, 2009 ... Byline: Tom Willetts The number of people contributing to defined contribution (DC) pension schemes is set to surpass the number in defined benefit (DB) arrangements. According to a report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), people were saving in 7.9 million ...
News: Derisking insight - Buy-in prices: is now a good time to act?
Jun 29, 2009 ... Byline: David Ellis - Principal, Mercer Many trustees and their sponsoring employers have considered whether a bulk annuity would be a good investment. There are two key reasons for purchasing a bulk annuity: as a stepping stone towards the plan's end-game, and as a long- term ...
In depth: "We have a good starting point for what's necessary to solve this particular task".(Company overview)
Jun 29, 2009 ... Byline: Charlie Kirby Lars Rohde, chief executive of Danish administration firm Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension (ATP), is approachable, open and completely undaunted by the prospect of potentially providing the administration for personal accounts. Indeed, he claims ...
In depth: Pensions policy will guarantee poverty for many.
Jun 29, 2009 ... Byline: Frank Field - MP for the Wirral Who would have thought it would have come to this? There was quite rightly public anger and shock when Robert Maxwell was found to be lifting the pension funds of those companies he owned. Most people then regarded their pension savings as ...
A Pensions Week Campaign: Rethinking Pensions - Send in your ideas for middle way/hybrid pension schemes by September 15th.
Jun 29, 2009 ... Entry requirements All entries should be sent electronically by email to rethinkingpensions@ft.com. Your entry must be no more than 500 words long and may include one graphic if desired. Entries that are longer may be omitted. We understand that 500 words could ...