Pensions

The government’s new piggy bank

The government’s new piggy bank

Hot on the heels of Ian Duncan Smith’s suggestion that pension schemes should invest in unicorn technology companies came last week’s challenge from the Prime Minister and the Chancellor for institutional investors to participate in an investment big bang. While the...

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The defined benefit pensions black run

The defined benefit pensions black run

Conventional wisdom says legacy defined benefit pensions will tide over those retiring in the next few decades while defined contribution pots gradually grow and take their place. But a recent paper by LCP called The Ski-slope of Doom dispels this myth. While public...

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Pensions for the self-employed

Pensions for the self-employed

While auto-enrolment has bolstered pension coverage of those working for others, retirement provision has ebbed away from the self-employed. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the proportion of this cohort who save for a pension declined to 16% in 2018...

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A better way forward

A better way forward

In yesterday’s blog post I discussed how George Osborne’s freedom and choice has made it more challenging for scheme members to manage their retirement. Now individuals are no longer required to purchase an annuity, it's up to them to ensure their pension pots last...

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Freedom and choice: five years on

Freedom and choice: five years on

In April 2015 Chancellor George Osborne changed the way people could access their defined contribution pension pots after the age of 55. Members could take a quarter of the pot as tax-free cash and there was no longer any requirement to use the remainder to purchase...

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Unfunded public sector schemes

Unfunded public sector schemes

In this final post examining the current pension landscape in the UK, we turn our attention to pension schemes for public servants such as teachers, doctors, nurses and civil servants.Each government department has its own defined benefit scheme – members receive an...

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Auto-enrolling the private sector

Auto-enrolling the private sector

In the last couple of posts I explained how the Labour government responded to the decline in the number of active members of private section pensions at the start of the millennium by forming The Pension Commission in 2002. Simplified state pensions and increasing...

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What is a pension?

What is a pension?

This is the first in a series of posts which aim to bring some clarity to pensions.  I aim to explain pensions from first principles to give you an understanding of the relationship between government policy, investment and regulation. The goal is to improve your...

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Beware of narrow government vision

Beware of narrow government vision

Today I received a press release which, at first glance, looked like one any self-respecting financial journalist should ignore. An active manager says its response to the Local Government Pension Scheme consultation was to warn against local authorities shifting into...

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Tackling the pensions education gap

Tackling the pensions education gap

I’ll admit it: I have strong opinions about pensions and investment. I find it particularly vexing when anyone uses the word ‘saving’ while talking about pensions. That’s why the first blog I wrote addresses this very issue. Research released by Nest Corporation today...

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It’s time to consider compulsion

It’s time to consider compulsion

In the somewhat dry and technical world of pensions it is a good week when life is enlivened by two parties expressing equally strong yet opposing views on a particular topic. The most entertaining aspect of the government’s unveiling of its Pensions Bill last week...

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An uncertain future for fund management

An uncertain future for fund management

Last week KPMG issued a report on the asset management industry declaring the number of global players would halve by 2030. Forecasting the size of an industry to decrease by 50% is certainly a headline-grabbing prediction but that was not the only interesting insight...

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Time for a cohesive pensions policy

Time for a cohesive pensions policy

t’s inevitable coalition government policy will be a Frankenstein monster – ideas from different parties are stitched together to form a whole. And then politicians cross their fingers and hope it will be cohesive enough to lumber through to the next election without...

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Not this form of collectivism

Not this form of collectivism

A collective defined contribution scheme, which pools together assets from multiple companies,  has much to recommend it. It’s no longer effective for many companies to set up their own DC schemes – it requires too great a commitment from the executive team. In...

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Is member engagement back on the agenda?

Is member engagement back on the agenda?

Even though more than two months have passed since Budget, the pensions industry is still coming to terms with the long-term implications of dropping the requirement for pensioners to buy an annuity on retirement. The most important concern is to ensure members buy...

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The pension cost obsession

The pension cost obsession

After months of speculation, the announcement by the government at the end of March that it will impose a 0.75% charge cap on all defined contribution schemes used for auto-enrolment pension schemes at least drew a line in the sand for the pensions industry. While a...

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The government’s new piggy bank

When saving is a dirty word

Indulge me in a thought experiment. Imagine that an asset management firm has commissioned a marketing company to carry out some consumer research. In a room 20 people are gathered from an appropriately broad range of ages and demographic backgrounds. The...

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