Pensions Week back issues from September 2005:
News: Bradstock members face fresh setback.
Sep 05, 2005 ... Assets recovered for the pension fund in the liquidation of the collapsed financial services firm Bradstock Group will be used to provide indexation to pensioners on full benefits, with nothing for deferred members who face benefit cuts of up to 90%, PW understands. A spokesman ...
News: Funding regulations delayed until October.
Sep 05, 2005 ... New funding requirements for defined benefit pension funds will come into force more than a month later than expected following widespread discontent in the pensions industry. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will implement the funding requirements on 31 October - 38 ...
News: McKnight defects to LCP.
Sep 05, 2005 ... Watson Wyatt has lost another member of its investment team to a rival consulting practice. Ian McKnight has resigned from his role as investment consultant to join Lane Clark & Peacock's (LCP) investment consulting practice. McKnight will work a three-month notice ...
News: Engineers say how to fix pensions system.
Sep 05, 2005 ... The Engineering Employers Federation (EEF) has called for a major overhaul of the UK's pensions system which includes the introduction of a three-pillar system. The manufacturers' organisation said the changes, which would include an enhanced basic state pension, minimum ...
News: PPF pensions levy will not consider contingent funding.
Sep 05, 2005 ... The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) will take no account of contingent funding arrangements when setting the 2006/2007 pensions levy. The refusal to consider contingent funding, such as granting pension schemes a charge over company assets, insolvency insurance and letters of ...
News: Royal London introduces flexible pensions for DC members.
Sep 05, 2005 ... Royal London has launched a flexible retirement package for its defined contribution scheme members. Under a group personal pension arrangement, employees at the life and pensions company will receive employer contributions of twice the level paid in by employees. ...
News: Simplification could lead to rush for tax-free cash from schemes.
Sep 05, 2005 ... There will be a rush to scoop tax-free cash from pension schemes when the tax rules change next April, according to pension advisers. Tax simplification rules, set to come into effect on 6 April next year, will allow a tax-free lump sum to be drawn from money purchase pension ...
News: NDA to introduce industry-wide pension scheme.
Sep 05, 2005 ... The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has gone out to tender for a consulting actuary following its decision to introduce a new industry-wide pension scheme. The nuclear clean-up scheme will appoint the consulting actuary to help develop and implement the scheme and to ...
News: Axa wins oe67m local authority mandate as Shropshire signs up.
Sep 05, 2005 ... The Shropshire County Council pension fund has selected Axa Rosenberg Investment Managementto run a GBP67m Europe ex-UK equity mandate. Earlier this year, Shropshire ditched equity managers Barclays Global Investors, Deutsche Asset Management and State Street Global Advisors, ...
News: Amended debt regulations come into force.
Sep 05, 2005 ... Regulations that change the debt payable by an employer who pulls out of a multi-employer pension scheme came into force last week. The amended regulations change the basis on which the debt is payable from the minimum funding basis to the cost of buying-out benefits with ...
News: News in brief.
Sep 05, 2005 ... INVESTMENT SOLUTIONS TO RUN RINGWAY'S DB The Ringway Group has appointed multi-manager Investment Solutions for its three defined benefit (DB) schemes, worth GBP10m. Robin Withers, secretary of the road maintenance company, said: "Investment Solutions offered a ...
Opinion: Letters - Support for 50/50 mnt split.(Letter to the Editor)
Sep 05, 2005 ... I would support the comments made by Tom Powdrill of the TUC in his letter (PW 22.8.05) challenging the reported comments that equal member representation fails to add value to trustee boards. Since nationalisation of the gas industry more than 50 years ago, and in spite of the ...
Opinion: Letters - Trustees' agenda is to serve beneficiaries.(Letter to the Editor)
Sep 05, 2005 ... Tom Powdrill's letter (PW 22.8.05) was interesting, because in his attempt at making a point about the value of member-nominated trustees (MNTs), he questions the motives of employer trustees by asserting that "there are clear conflicts of interest" and that the industry is overwhelmingly ...
Opinion: Letters - Wrong if you do, wrong if you don't.(Letter to the Editor)
Sep 05, 2005 ... Pensions Week of 22 August on page 3 carries a report of criticism of the AA bond yield assumption for FRS 17 because this "does not take into account the market-determined cost of capital for the sponsoring firm ". On page 11 of the same edition the NAPF's Christine Farnish ...
Opinion: Don't miss future editions of the Trustee Masterclass.
Sep 05, 2005 ... Have you been keeping up to date with the Trustee Masterclass series produced as a joint initiative between PW and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM)? The Trustee Masterclass aims to help UK pension fund trustees with the increasing challenges they face by providing ...
News: Questions raised over compensation scheme.
Sep 05, 2005 ... The Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS), which started operating last week, is still collecting data on schemes, giving rise to fears that the government is not acting quickly enough to compensate those who have lost all or most of their retirement savings when their company went bust. ...
News: UK trustees unprepared for pensions act changes.
Sep 05, 2005 ... Only half of UK trustees are prepared for the additional responsibilities of the Pensions Act 2004, according to a report. From April next year, trustees will be legally required to know and understand the law relating to pensions and trusts, as well as general funding and ...
News: State Street bags four local authority mandates.
Sep 05, 2005 ... State Street has made further inroads into the local authority pension scheme market winning four custody mandates worth GBP1.7bn. The global custodian has won an GBP850m mandate with Rhondda Cynon Taf Borough Council superannuation fund, a GBP415m mandate with London Borough of ...
News: Liberata expands outsourcing business services.
Sep 05, 2005 ... Business processes provider Liberata and Gecis Global have joined together to offer outsourcing solutions to the UK life and pensions industry. The partnership combines Liberata's processing outsourcing business and Gecis's business and technology services in a bid to reduce ...
News: New pensions business up as stakeholder lags.
Sep 05, 2005 ... Life and pensions business has seen a growth of almost 13% over the second quarter of this year, but stakeholder sales remained disappointing. New business, compared to the equivalent quarter of 2004, totalled almost GBP3bn, according to the latest figures from the Association ...
News: Consumers rate pensions info as poor.
Sep 05, 2005 ... Three-quarters of adults in the UK are not interested in reading financial correspondence and would rather read about horoscopes than pensions. Women in particular experience the greatest difficulty in digesting financial information, with 87% claiming they are more likely to ...
News: Trustee - The cost of options.
Sep 05, 2005 ... As I write this at the end of what journalists describe as the 'silly season', I am moved to ponder on what might appear, to some trustees at least, to be a silly topic. Investors, including pension trustees, are being urged to involve themselves in the arcane world of ...
News: Help for trustees from Pinsent Masons.
Sep 05, 2005 ... Law firm Pinsent Masons has set up a service to help trustees assess the strength of their scheme sponsor's business in response to the Pensions Act 2004. The service will incorporate legal, banking, restructuring and accounting advice. Pinsent Masons will provide an ...
News: Ombudsman blames lack of resources as backlog soars to 1,700.
Sep 05, 2005 ... The pensions ombudsman has come under fire from the industry for lengthy delays in dealing with cases as the backlog soars to 1,700 and investigations drag on for more than seven years. The concerns came as pensions ombudsman, David Laverick, acknowledged the growing workload ...
News: Ombudsman watch.
Sep 05, 2005 ... The Pensions Ombudsman The ombudsman has recently published his annual report for 2004 to 2005. In this he reveals that a budget of GBP1,960,000 was agreed for the year. However, he succeeded in spending only GBP1,753,000, compared with GBP1,588,000 in the previous year. He was ...
News: Standard Life Investments' sales soar to oe1.4bn.
Sep 05, 2005 ... Standard Life Investments saw a hike of 115% in UK institutional business to GBP1.4bn over the last six months. The interim results for 2005 showed continued growth, as 71% of its pension funds outperformed their respective peer groups, according to Russell/Mellon figures. ...
News: New multi-managers will have to be different to succeed.
Sep 05, 2005 ... The plethora of new entrants to the manager-of-managers arena will have to develop alternative and innovative services if they are to threaten established players, consultants and multi-managers said. According to SEI Investments and consultant FPS, new pretenders such as ...
News: NAPF notice board.
Sep 05, 2005 ... Delegates sign up for NAPF autumn conferences season The NAPF's autumn conference season is now well under way with delegates already registering for our two forthcoming events. On Wednesday 28 September, London's Royal College of Surgeons will host the NAPF trustee ...
Governance update: Corporate governance concerns at Warner Estates Holdings.
Sep 05, 2005 ... Warner Estates Holdings is holding its annual general meeting (AGM) this week (8 September 2005), and Research Recommendations Electronic Voting (RREV) has raised several serious corporate governance concerns in its report on the company. Philip Warner has combined the roles of ...
Insight: Land of Opportunities.
Sep 05, 2005 ... Emerging markets offer investors a range of opportunities to enhance long- term returns when used as part of a diversified and balanced investment portfolio. However, conventional investment methods do not fully capitalise on the growth potential of the emerging market asset class. ...
McAllister Investigates: Simplification - Exotic dish for a few, but no bread for the masses.
Sep 05, 2005 ... Simplification is everything but simple. Pension schemes are frantically wading through reams of regulation let loose from the government with haphazard irregularity, while the industry is desperately trying to decipher what six tax regimes blended into one actually means. And all this ...
Opinion: Leader - Another nail in the coffin for private savings.
Sep 05, 2005 ... If you ask the average worker whether they are a member of their company pension scheme, the majority would be able to answer yes or no. Ask that same worker if they are contracted in or out of the second state pension (S2P) chances are they won't have a clue. However, the ...
Opinion: Personal view - With-profits bounces back.
Sep 05, 2005 ... With-profits has long been the backbone of the UK's long-term savings industry, delivering impressive long-term payouts for those who held their policies until maturity. Then at the end of the 1990s came the bear market. The with-profits proposition, so long valued for its ...
Opinion: Inside view - Finding the value in emerging currencies.
Sep 05, 2005 ... Emerging currencies have offered significant opportunities over the past year to add uncorrelated sources of alpha to portfolios. The improved liquidity, the uncorrelated trends and the lack of a clear direction from the major currencies have been factors in making these currencies more ...
Roundtable: Multi-management - Intro.(Panel Discussion)
Sep 05, 2005 ... Multi-management is one of the most active areas of institutional fund management in the UK. The past year has seen numerous new entrants to the market including Bramdean, West AM and Neptune - testament to the sector's obvious growth potential. The Pensions Week ...
Roundtable: Multi-management - Multi-managers: evolving to meet the needs of today's markets.
Sep 05, 2005 ... Gill Wadsworth: Is it possible that the market is now reaching saturation and that there are too many multi-managers for the market to be profitable? John Gillies: It is an interesting issue as to whether there is a limit to multi-management demand. After all, we do not really ...
People on the move: Lovatt joins Scottish Life as head of marketing development.
Sep 05, 2005 ... Scottish Life, the pensions arm of the Royal London Group, has appointed Neil Lovatt to the newly created position of head of marketing development. Reporting directly to group product development director, Ewan Smith, Lovatt's responsibilities will cover investment marketing ...
People on the move: Parker appointed senior consultant at Mercer.
Sep 05, 2005 ... Mercer Human Resource Consulting has appointed Matthew Parker as a senior consultant within its retirement consulting business. Based in London, he will provide actuarial advice to pension scheme trustees and employers. Parker has 18 years' experience in the pensions ...
People on the move: Optima targets Europe with Martin at the helm.
Sep 05, 2005 ... Hedge fund-of-funds Optima Holdings has appointed Graham Martin as managing director of Optima Investment Management in its new London office. Martin joined from Gartmore Investment Management where he was business development director of its hedge fund business. ...
People on the move: Vebnet nabs 4th Contact duo.
Sep 05, 2005 ... Vebnet has appointed Mark Dixon as client services director and James Verner as sales director. Dixon and Verner both ...
People on the move: Dukes takes responsibility for sales at IRM.
Sep 05, 2005 ... Independent Risk Monitoring (IRM) has appointed Marc Dukes as manager of business development. He will be responsible for day-to-day sales and marketing activities and client relationship management. Dukes joins IRM having spent time as a business ...
News Just In... : Industry demands higher rebates for schemes contracting out of S2P.
Sep 05, 2005 ... The government has come under renewed pressure from consultants to ramp up national insurance (NI) rebates by GBP2bn for schemes contracting out of the state second pension (S2P). Rebates paid to employers and members of company pension schemes who contract out of S2P are ...
News Just In... : New rules encourage data transparency.
Sep 05, 2005 ... Investment funds of life and pension providers will have to report past performance data following a decision by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) to rejig existing rules. The move next month is designed to give more transparency to how advisers and consumers judge ...
News: PPF levy risks major corporate collapse.
Sep 12, 2005 ... The government's looming risk-based levy for the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) will cause the collapse of many schemes and their parent companies, according to industry insiders. Payments of the levy, based on the deficit of defined benefit (DB) pension funds and the solvency of ...
News: Draft regulation encourages disclosure.
Sep 12, 2005 ... Members of non money-purchase schemes will be able to chart the state of their savings under planned government regulations forcing schemes to publish annual benefits information. The draft regulation is designed to give members more understanding and choice over how to save for ...
News: LCP loses Treeby.
Sep 12, 2005 ... Lane Clark & Peacock (LCP) has lost an investment consultant with over six years' service at the firm. Victoria Treeby who ...
News: Lee quits Mercer.
Sep 12, 2005 ... Mark Lee has resigned from his position as analyst at Mercer Investment Consulting. Lee will spend ...
News: Pensions market could open up to alternative providers.
Sep 12, 2005 ... New players, such as fund management firms, could be able to operate pension schemes by next April, when pensions simplification is implemented. Following lobbying by the Investment Management Association (IMA), the Treasury is to issue a consultation paper on opening up the ...
News: Cost and complexity biggest barriers to implementing occupational schemes.
Sep 12, 2005 ... Pensions complexity is second only to cost as a major obstacle to employers implementing a retirement plan, research revealed. According to an online survey conducted by the Society of Pension Consultants (SPC), 46% of respondents consider complexity and compliance as the main ...
News: Industry clash over the future of contracting out.
Sep 12, 2005 ... Controversy rages over the potential loss of up to GBP8bn in private savings if contracting out of the state pension system is scrapped in favour of a flat rate citizens' pension. The industry is divided over the impact of cutting billions in national insurance (NI) rebates paid ...
News: Mellon creates MAS with ownership of analytical service.
Sep 12, 2005 ... Mellon Financial Corporation has acquired full ownership of Russell/Mellon's global analytical services. Mellon will acquire Russell's 50% share of the joint institutional investment information service to create Mellon Analytical Solutions (MAS). In addition, ...
News: JLT pre-tax profits jumps by 20%.
Sep 12, 2005 ... Jardine Lloyd Thompson's (JLT) employee benefits business saw a 20% hike in pre-tax profits to GBP4.8m for the first half of 2005. The acquisition of software provider Profund in 2004 accounted for GBP3.9m of JLT's revenue, which is up 27% to GBP34.5m. Commenting on the results, ...
News: News in brief.
Sep 12, 2005 ... NORTHERN TRUST WINS SONY UK MANDATE Northern Trust, a provider of global custody, asset administration and investment management, has won the mandate to provide custody services for GBP65m of UK equity assets at the Sony United Kingdom Pension Fund. Sally-Anne ...
News: Hedge funds take the lead for HSBC.
Sep 12, 2005 ... A strong rally in the European equity markets helped fund-of-hedge funds regain their lead over long-only funds in July. The HSBC European Absolute fund rose by 2.3% in euro terms and 2.6% in sterling terms as the euro appreciated in value. Despite frequent reports that hedge ...
News: Elections drive investment growth in Germany and Japan.
Sep 12, 2005 ... The dual themes of politics and restructuring are driving fund managers' investment hopes for the disparate markets of Germany and Japan. While both economies have been struggling with underperforming stock markets and sluggish growth, fund managers have recommended increased ...
News: JPMorgan develops portfolio technology.
Sep 12, 2005 ... Global custodian JPMorgan Worldwide Securities Services (JPMWSS) has expanded its portfolio reporting technology for institutional investors. JPMWSS' expanded application - Views - gives executives, accounting and operations staff at banks, money management firms, mutual funds, ...
News: Don't miss future editions of the Trustee Masterclass.
Sep 12, 2005 ... Have you been keeping up to date with the Trustee Masterclass series produced as a joint initiative between PW and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM)? The Trustee Masterclass aims to help UK pension fund trustees with the increasing challenges they face by providing ...
News: TUC's proposed 10% rate for employers comes under fire.
Sep 12, 2005 ... Employers face paying 10% contribution rates under proposals by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in support of its campaign to introduce compulsory savings. The trade union, which claims to have seven million members, launched a broadside against critics of compulsion dismissing ...
News: Fat cat pensions attacked.
Sep 12, 2005 ... British boardroom directors receive pensions 45 times higher than most staff despite controversy still raging about fat cat salaries and bonuses, according to a Trades Union Congress (TUC) report. Despite calls for greater parity, the largest director's pension in each company ...
News: Pensions debate goes online.
Sep 12, 2005 ... The government has set up a website to allow the public to have its say in the national pensions debate. The interactive section enables people to send in their views on the pensions debate. Pensions reform minister Stephen Timms said: "The future of pensions will ...
News: Deloitte to research commission for ABI.
Sep 12, 2005 ... The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has appointed business advisory firm Deloitte to help develop its next stage in the programme of how consumers get financial advice and how it is paid for. The ABI initially started the research in February when it recommended to replace ...
News: Capita plans growth after FPS acquisition.
Sep 12, 2005 ... One of the UK's biggest third-party administrators (TPAs) Capita Hartshead said no redundancies are planned following the recent acquisition of the FPS Group. Mike Addenbrooke, managing director at Capita Hartshead, said FPS's client base in the small to medium-sized enterprise ...
News: PMI introduces trustee qualifications.
Sep 12, 2005 ... The Pensions Management Institute (PMI) is to introduce new qualifications for trustees in April next year. The qualifications, which will cover the trustee knowledge and understanding requirements as set out in the 2004 Pensions Act, will be submitted to the Qualifications and ...
News: Benchmark - Accepting the risks.
Sep 12, 2005 ... Investment is a process of seeking to balance risk and return. As time progresses I find myself increasingly interested in the risk side of the equation and conversely less interested in the return side. There are probably two main reasons, one of which I prefer to the other ....
News: Cofunds adds to its web offering.
Sep 12, 2005 ... Cofunds has beefed up its online proposition with the addition of two further intermediary-friendly facilities. Independent financial advisers will be able to make copies of customers' valuation statements available on the web rather than having to provide a paper copy. ...