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02 December 2008
Insolvency practitioners failing to report pension schemes
Over 200 insolvency practitioners have been reported to their professional bodies for failing to advise the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) and The Pension Regulator about pension schemes of insolvent companies. Alexander Forbes Trustee Services has warned that some insolvency practitioners may be putting their professional reputation at serious risk. As the economic downturn is forcing more businesses into insolvency, this problem is expected to get much worse.
Alexander Forbes Trustee Services

02 December 2008
Lincoln: Pensioners having to work beyond retirement age
Lincoln Financial Group has released research today which shows that Brits will have to work past the normal retirement age in order to support themselves. According to the study, over one-third of Brits have resigned themselves to the fact that they will have to work past the retirement age in order to fund the lifestyle they want.
Lincoln Financial Group

02 December 2008
Pension schemes make record leap back into £23bn surplus
Pension schemes have leapt back into a surplus of £23bn during November, the biggest monthly rise on record. According to Aon Consulting, the accounting deficit for the 200 largest privately sponsored pension schemes improved by £38bn in November, jumping back into surplus. The past month has been indicative of a year that has seen the most volatile pension scheme conditions ever, setting a number of records. The most recent Aon200 Index showed that the overall funding position improved from a deficit of £15bn at the end of October to a surplus of £23bn by the end of November.
AON Consulting

30 November 2008
Longevity risk overstated by £30bn, says PWC
Life expectancy for scheme members is less than predicted by the insurance company-based tables used by many schemes for accounting and funding assumptions. This is indicated by new mortality tables for self administered pension schemes issued by the actuarial profession. Failure to allow for this difference would lead to an overstatement of total UK defined benefit pension liabilities by some £30bn, warns PricewaterhouseCoopers.

30 November 2008
Pensions freeze will punish lower earners
The Government's decision last week to freeze the lifetime limit on how much people are allowed to save into their pension will have unforeseen consequences for low and middle- income Britons, a financial expert has warned. From 2010, the amount of cash that individuals can save in a pension over their lifetime will be capped at £1.8m. Very few people, of course, will put away anything like this much but the new limit will still have consequences for people with far smaller savings.

30 November 2008
Pensions schemes under threat - report
confidential report has warned that a number of high profile pension schemes are expected to collapse within the next six months affecting tens of thousands of workers. The report was prepared for the Government by Social and Family Affairs Minister Mary Hanafin. The memo, seen by a Sunday newspaper, warns that both defined-benefit and defined-contribution schemes could be under threat as the total pension deficit reaches between €20 and €30 billion.

28 November 2008
Collapse promises huge headache for PPF
The Pension Protection Fund faces one of the largest claims on its already-stretched fund with the collapse of Woolworths. It is bracing for a string of other, possibly bigger, claims, as the recession bites harder. As of August, Woolworths reported a cumulative deficit in its pension scheme of £81m, though pension experts say privately that the PPF could find itself on the hook for considerably more than that.
Pension Protection Fund (PPF)

28 November 2008
Pension savings 'will not grow under Personal Accounts'
The introduction of Personal Accounts is unlikely to grow UK pension provision in the way the Government hopes, says a leading Actuary. Keith Barton, chairman of the Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA), called on ministers to introduce additional financial incentives for both employers and individuals to ensure pension provision is adequate. ACA research suggests almost a third of employers would be tempted to reduce benefits and abandon their existing schemes in favour of Personal Accounts. Barton believes this number will have risen even further since the economic downturn began.
Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA

27 November 2008
Cameron: Time to slash public sector pensions
The ballooning cost of Britain's public sector pensions would be slashed by an incoming Tory government, David Cameron has signalled. The Conservative leader has argued that generous final salary schemes should be phased out and replaced with money-purchase schemes in a bid to save taxpayers billions of pounds.

27 November 2008
Conservatives will 'reign back' on DB regulation
The UK's Conservatives opposition party has confirmed they would "reign back" on regulation of defined benefit (DB) schemes if they enter power after the next general election. Speaking at the Association of British Insurers (ABI) Savings Conference 2008: Living Longer, Living Better, Chris Grayling, shadow secretary for work and pensions for the Conservatives, said increased longevity would always have meant DB schemes are difficult to fund.
Association of British Insurers (ABI)

27 November 2008
Cost of pension increases for stay-at-home mums
Women wishing to top up their basic state pension should do so now before a 50 per cent hike in buying back National Insurance (NI) contributions comes into force in April, experts have warned. To qualify for a full basic state pension, currently £90.70 per week, women need 39 years of National Insurance contributions – although this is changing to 30 years from 2010. The cost of "buying back" National Insurance contribution years is increasing by £200.

27 November 2008
Millions more will be saving for the future as pensions act 2008 gets Royal assent
Up to 9 million people, many of them on low and middle incomes, will get access to a workplace pension, or will be able to save more, as the Pension Act 2008 received Royal Assent yesterday. From 2012 workers will either be automatically enrolled into their employer's workplace pension scheme or entered into the new Personal Accounts scheme, ensuring those who in the past have not had the opportunity build up any savings for retirement can now do so. This landmark piece of legislation represents a key element of Lord Turner's Pension Commission's recommendations to help more people save for retirement.
Department for Work and pensions

26 November 2008
Freeze on pensions lifetime limit to hit savers
Alistair Darling was told last night that his decision to freeze lifetime pensions allowances could have severe consequences for thousands of savers. Mr Darling said that the pension lifetime allowance from 2010 to 2015-16 would be frozen at £1.8 million. Anything over that amount, as with the existing limit of £1.65 million, would be taxed at a rate of 55 per cent. The pensions industry had assumed that the allowance would be increased every year, as it has been since its introduction in 2006. Some experts dubbed the move a “stealth tax” that could generate an extra £400 million a year for the Treasury. They gave warning that it was likely to tip thousands more people into having to pay tax at the higher level.

26 November 2008
A growing problem
While the opportunity for environmental ‘returns’ has been seized by some of the more sophisticated pension funds, few funds are paying attention to the increasing environmental ‘risk’ present in all portfolios.

26 November 2008
More than 1.6m left in financial difficulties after stock market-based pensions dive in value
Hundreds of thousands of workers misled into ditching generous final salary pensions by rogue salesmen are now facing up to hardship in retirement. More than 1.6million people were mis-sold stock market-based pensions between 1988 and 1994. More than £10billion has been paid out in compensation. But many are now discovering that the compensation was woefully inadequate and their pensions will be thousands of pounds lower than expected. This was because compensation payments were based on a strict formula imposed by the regulators, which assumed the money invested would grow faster than it has done.

26 November 2008
Pension members need Europe-wide supervision
The European umbrella organisation of actuaries wants to see plans for a Europe-wide supervision of occupational pensions being sped up

26 November 2008
Taxpayers must foot massive gold-plated pensions bill as Darling's report reveals 'ultimate stealth tax'
Shocking new figures reveal the 'rocketing' cost of paying the gold-plated pensions of Britain's 5.8million public sector workers. For just one year, the bill, which must be paid in full by taxpayers, has soared to nearly £4billion, or £150 per family. Buried on page 210 of the Pre-Budget Report, they reveal the eye-watering bill has jumped by nearly £1billion in just 12 months.

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