Pensions Week articles from December 2006

Pensions Week archives from December 2006

FAS pays out a pitiful GBP1.7m in three years.
December 4, 2006... Byline: Daniel McAllister The government's Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) has paid only GBP1.7m of the GBP2.3bn earmarked for the pensions lifeboat after nearly three years in operation, despite paying over six times as much (GBP10.4m)...

Industry attacks advice fees for PPF's risk-based levy.
December 4, 2006... The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has been attacked for its risk agency charging pension schemes a fee for information on reducing their insolvency risk score. The PPF, which recently made its first direct payments to occupational pension...

GBP10bn of assets available for buyout met with mixed reaction.
December 4, 2006... Byline: Gill Wadsworth Pension funds with assets totalling GBP10bn are queuing up to pass their liabilities to the buyout market, as bulk annuity providers ramp up new business. Latest entrants to the buyout market, previously...

Fund managers fight claims private equity increases fees.
December 4, 2006... Private equity managers hit back at claims pension funds will lose out on a shift from public to private equity, arguing the asset class is an opportunity not a threat. A study by Citigroup stated most UK pension funds were looking to move...

Senior duo partner up to offer advice.
December 4, 2006... A consultant and pension manager have joined forces to launch an independent pensions advisory service specialising in scheme governance. Avgi Gregory, a former director at Mercer Human Resource Consulting, and Barclays Bank's ex group...

Dell will not "get away with it".
December 4, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison The GBP7bn West Midlands pension scheme has won lead plaintiff in legal action against US computer giant Dell, PW can reveal. The scheme alleges between February 2003 and September 2006, a number of Dell directors...

LGPS member unions threaten million-man strike.
December 4, 2006... The government's decision to announce proposed changes to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), in the middle of union negotiations, threatens strike action from over one million members. Reforms including increased employee...

Nomura launches open global property fund.
December 4, 2006... Nomura International has launched an open-ended global property fund, as part of its UCITS III series. Aimed at both retail and institutional investors, the fund aims to achieve long-term capital growth in property markets by exposure to...

News in Brief.
December 4, 2006... The London Borough of Newham pension fund is to invest GBP30m of its assets in to infrastructure. The council scheme has put out to tender for one or more managers to run a GBP30m infrastructure portfolio. The scheme is advised by...

EU repays carbon-friendly firms.
December 4, 2006... Byline: Hannah Williams Pension funds making low carbon investments could soon be rewarded financially following EU legislation to strengthen the carbon trading market. Phase two of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), which launched...

Deficits decrease again in November to total of GBP46bn.
December 4, 2006... Pension deficits dropped by around 10% in November and are now two-fifths lower than the start of the year, research showed. Analysis by Aon Consulting found while the total estimated deficit for the 200 schemes surveyed was GBP52bn at the...

Pension reforms miss the boat.
December 4, 2006... Byline: Daniel McAllister The government's planned reform of the state pension system has been branded a "missed opportunity" by the pensions industry, following the publication of its pensions bill last week. The bill, which will...

Employer pension contributions could soon level at 10% for both DB and DC.
December 4, 2006... UK employers could soon be offering pensions with employer contributions levelled at 10% for both defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) schemes, according to consultants. In its corporate pensions survey for 2006, consulting...

Pensions Bill.
December 4, 2006... - The basic state pension will be linked to earnings between 2012 and 2015. - The state pension age will increase incrementally to age 68 by 2046. - State pension age will move to 66 in 2024-2026, 67 in 2034-2036, and 68 in 2044-2046....

Green-eyed monster.
December 4, 2006... Byline: Kevin O'Donnell There are growing calls for a Turner-style review of public sector pensions and the government must agree to these before 'pensions envy' gets out of control. Last week's Pensions Week covered the latest call...

Minister pours scorn on member trustees for LGPS.
December 4, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison The minister in charge of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) has dismissed calls for local authorities to adopt private sector-style investment committees. Corporate pension funds are compelled to fill a...

FAs warned over looming Sipp regulations.
December 4, 2006... Financial advisers have been warned to be on their guard over self-invested personal pensions (Sipp) regulations due in early 2007. John Moret, director of sales and marketing at Suffolk Life, said advisers and providers of Sipps should...

Miscalculations could cost LDI.
December 4, 2006... Byline: Hannah Williams Misjudged mortality assumptions could have costly consequences for pensions funds adopting liability-driven investment (LDI) strategies, consultants warned. Following criticism from David Willets, former shadow...

Pensions priority grows as British workforce ages.
December 4, 2006... A quarter of British workers rate pensions saving as a top financial concern, research showed. According to a study by Alliance Trust, one in four Brits viewed pensions as top of the financial agenda, but this changed as lives progressed....

Ombudsman Watch.
December 4, 2006... Remember Ombudsman watch on January 16 had this year to say: "Trying to explain the law of estoppel to a non-lawyer is like to trying to explain the offside rule to someone who has never played football. It is not an easy task. However,...

Governance Watch - Going against good practice in more than one area.
December 4, 2006... Debenhams will be holding its annual general meeting (AGM) on December 12, 2006 and there are some areas of concern over the company's corporate governance RREV is raising in its analysis. In December 2003 Debenhams was acquired by Baroness...

A global paradigm shift.
December 4, 2006... Byline: Marina Lewin Hedge funds are here to stay as a growing component in global institutional portfolios according to recent research by The Bank of New York, in conjunction with Casey Quirk & Associates, but the investor dynamic is...

Leader - Any light at the end of that tunnel?
December 4, 2006... Byline: Gill Wadsworth Given that running a pension scheme is now akin to wandering, slightly pissed, along the edge of a cliff while wearing a blindfold and being poked with a large stick, it's no great surprise that company sponsors are...

Leader - A valuable position.
December 4, 2006... Byline: Geoffrey Staines Read any article about pensions and you could easily assume that every aspect is in crisis, but on closer inspection the reality is rather different. Sure, it appears the final salary pensions model which gave the...

Inside View - Big oil industry: the rise and fall of a commodity.
December 4, 2006... Byline: Kim Catechis From their beginnings in the 1850s, the 'big oil' companies dominated the industry across the globe with implacable strength. Their names were Standard Oil (John D Rockefeller, 1870), Royal Dutch & Shell (combined in...

Reporting the reality behind the headlines.
December 4, 2006... Mr P - Scotia pension scheme member "I was employed by a biotechnology company, Scotia Holdings. I was one of the earliest employees and had accrued 20 years of pension contributions by the time I was made redundant in 1999. Over...

Tapping into the currency markets - Sourcing extra return from the foreign exchange markets.
December 4, 2006... Byline: Gill Wadsworth, editor The latest Mercer Human Resource Consulting survey of defined benefit schemes found that 70% of investment strategies use an active currency manager and this figure is set to rise. The trend to...

Handling exposure.
December 4, 2006... Byline: Christine Senior With more diversified portfolios, especially a greater allocation to overseas assets, UK pension funds have been forced to consider how to manage the risk - the unrewarded risk - of foreign currency exposure. But...

Generation FX.
December 4, 2006... The foreign exchange markets will have doubled in size in just three years by 2007, thanks in part to increased participation by fund managers and pension funds, according to recent research by financial services consultancy, TowerGroup. ...

Mellon Global Investments.
December 4, 2006... Background Mellon is one of the largest global financial service companies with GBP2.9trn* under management. Mellon offers a broad array of services enhanced by exceptional customer service and leading edge technology. At Mellon...

Mellish to head up UBP UK business development.
December 4, 2006... Byline: Hannah Williams Swiss firm Union Bancaire Privee (UBP) has strengthened its UK institutional footing with the appointment of former Credit Suisse Asset Management director Terry Mellish. Joining the team as head of UK...

Stroud stands down as Nichols takes the reins.
December 4, 2006... Stephen Nichols has been appointed head of the Pensions Trust after veteran leader Richard Stroud stands down as chief executive. Having been deputy head at the trust since 2002, Nichols' pensions career includes spells at Express Dairies...

Pensions Regulator adds Clayton to its clearance team.
December 4, 2006... The Pensions Regulator has boosted its clearance team with the appointment of Chris Clayton. As part of the regulator's ongoing secondment programme, Clayton will work within the corporate risk management division. He will undertake a...

Saluzzi to lead PwC's real estate project.
December 4, 2006... PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has appointed Marc Saluzzi as global head of its investment management and real estate group (IMRE). Previously a partner at the firm, Saluzzi will now be responsible for the leadership of PwC's assurance...

Gissings appoints client manager.
December 4, 2006... Gissings has expanded its client relationship practice with the appointment of senior consultant John Longhurst. Previously with Mercer Human Resource Consulting, Longhurst was responsible for providing consultancy advice and overall...

Ministers 'mislead' MPs over court case.
December 11, 2006... Byline: Daniel McAllister Ministers have "misled parliament" and "abused their position of power" by refusing to withdraw the threat to pursue legal costs if it wins the judicial review of government pensions maladministration, according...

BMA seeks legal advice over cuts to GPs' benefits.
December 11, 2006... A row has broken out between the Department of Health and British Medical Association (BMA) over controversial cuts to GPs' pension benefits. GPs' contracts were reviewed in 2004, ensuring a greater link between earnings and retirement...

Premier pledges GBP164m to plug RHM's pension scheme deficit.
December 11, 2006... Byline: Hannah Williams Premier Foods has vowed to inject GBP164m into the RHM Pension Scheme over a four-year period as part of a proposed merger between the two food companies. RHM announced it had accepted an 83.2p cash per share...

ITN unions move to strike in the New Year.
December 11, 2006... Union members of the Independent Television Network (ITN) Pension Scheme are balloting for strike action after hitting a stalemate with management over proposed pension changes. The media group announced amendments to its defined benefit...

Schroders admits poor performance.
December 11, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison Schroders has suffered extensive underperformance across a number of asset classes as it was revealed the BBC is looking to drop the firm after a 60- year mandate. The Caps pooled pension fund figures for...

Standard Life to swap pension scheme.
December 11, 2006... Standard Life is looking to ditch its final salary benefit arrangement and replace it with a career average scheme in a bid to plug its GBP200m pension deficit. In a move that will impact on 7,000 staff members, the company proposes to...

Members to strike unless ROH backs down.
December 11, 2006... Royal Opera House (ROH) scheme members are threatening strike action if the company fails to back down over proposals to increase member contributions. The GBP24m scheme informed its members in October the deficit had risen from GBP6.4m in...

Dumfries tenders for active equity managers.
December 11, 2006... The GBP400m Dumfries and Galloway pension fund is moving its equity assets out of a passive arrangement and is now tendering for active managers. The scheme is looking to appoint a specialist active currency overlay manager - the mandate...

PPS takes over NPI Sipp from Pearl.
December 11, 2006... Premier Pensions Services (PPS) has acquired the Trustee Company of NPI Sipp from Pearl Group. The appointment comes complete with the trustee responsibility and administration of a 300-strong self-invested personal pension (Sipp)...

Tax U-turn exposes life firms.
December 11, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison Life assurance firms must act to avoid mis-selling tax relief products after a government U-turn changed rules just eight months after they were introduced, consultants warned. The chancellor's pre-budget report...

Popularity of ETF strategy has doubled in a year.
December 11, 2006... Popularity in the European exchange-traded fund (ETF) market has doubled to GBP41.7bn in the last year, with a growing number of pensions investors choosing the strategy over alternative index-investing methods. Research by EDHEC Risk and...

Treasury gives NAPF hope for future.
December 11, 2006... National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) chairman Robin Ellison said he is "gently optimistic" about the future regulation of pension funds, following discussions with senior Treasury and Revenue officials. "There do seem to be...

Aon product gives member security to defaulting schemes.
December 11, 2006... Companies have been offered a Pension Protection Fund (PPF) accredited insurance product securing scheme members' pensions while limiting damages to firms' finances. The Aon Pensions Security Indemnity product (PSI) provides security for...

Mellon absolute return fund aims to beat cash.
December 11, 2006... Mellon Global Investments has launched a multi-asset absolute return product with bond-like volatility aiming to out-beat cash by 2% a year. The Newton phoenix multi-asset fund has a team of six specialist fund managers contributing under...

Pre-budget Report - ASP reforms blasted as 'heavy handed'.
December 11, 2006... Byline: Hannah Williams The government has come under fire from the pension industry for 'severely wounding' alternatively secured pensions (ASP's) in 'heavy-handed' procedure changes. In his pre-budget report, chancellor Gordon Brown...

Pre-budget Report - Brown's carbon initiative welcomed.
December 11, 2006... Gordon Brown's ambition to make London the world's leading centre for carbon trading has been welcomed by asset managers. PW previously reported legislative changes could soon pave the way for pension funds to find financial rewards in the...

Pre-budget Report - Annuities still meet consumer retirement needs.
December 11, 2006... The government believes annuities continue to meet the needs of consumers in retirement, following the pre-budget report (PBR). However, it has announced a review in the working of the open market option (OMO) to find out why only half of...

Pre-budget Report - Brown ends Sipp use of scheme pensions.
December 11, 2006... Chancellor Gordon Brown has moved to end the use of scheme pensions by self- invested personal pensions (Sipps) and small self-administered schemes (SSASs), in the pre-budget report (PBR) last week. Scheme pensions pay an income from the...

Sting in the Tale - Downright dangerous.
December 11, 2006... Byline: Steve Bee I guess many of you are as horrified as I am about the prospect of a National Pension Savings Scheme being introduced with automatic enrolment as its engine. I don't know whether we'll ever get to the position where...

NAPF warns of GBP10bn loss from levelling down.
December 11, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison The government could jeopardise GBP10bn of future pensions savings if it fails to persuade employers to provide high-value pensions and avoid levelling down benefits under the system of personal accounts, the National...

Companies enjoy rule-free year of Reits.
December 11, 2006... The relaxation of regulations for real estate investment trusts (Reits) will help start-up companies capitalise on the tax-efficient vehicles, a property firm said. The government's pre-budget report amended rules on Reits, waiving the 2%...

Conservatives blame DB decline on Brown's tax.
December 11, 2006... Byline: Daniel McAllister Official statistics revealing the over 10% decline in membership of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes since Labour came to power has been blamed on Gordon Brown's GBP50bn tax on pension schemes, by the...

Group funds show overall strength.
December 11, 2006... Group pension managed funds' returns have proven strong for the year so far despite a mediocre November. The 10 main managed fund providers' returns ranged from a high of 0.6% to a low -0.4% for November. But on average this year...

Caffe Nero needs to wake up and smell the coffee.
December 11, 2006... Caffe Nero Group will be holding its annual general meeting on December 14, 2006 and we are raising several corporate governance issues. There has been little change from the less than satisfactory corporate governance arrangements RREV...

NAPF Notice Board.
December 11, 2006... NAPF Trustees' Conference, Spring 2007 February 6, 2007, One Great George Street, Westminster, London While the pensions bill and pensions reform command attention, the business of running schemes is the main focus for trustees. The...

Ombudsman Watch.
December 11, 2006... Byline: Norman Russell Booklets Last week I wrote about the Court of Appeal decision in the Steria case. The ombudsman and the High Court had both decided the terms of the booklet prevailed over the terms of the rules. This was despite...

The changing landscape.
December 11, 2006... Byline: Ken MacIntyre As they contemplate another major round of pensions legislation, pensions professionals will hardly need reminding that there are important new laws on age discrimination which came into force on December 1. The...

Leader - The sentence has been passed before a fair trial.
December 11, 2006... Byline: Gill Wadsworth According to The Times last week, The Myners Review of institutional investment in the UK, published in 2001, was one of the least effective of the government's 39 reports since it came to office nine years ago. ...

Personal View - Why consider Asian and global property securities?
December 11, 2006... Byline: John Snowden Why consider investing in global and Asian property securities vehicles? In addition to property becoming a mainstream asset class, the liquidity and diversification benefits of listed property securities provide an...

Inside View - Swapping trust-based for contract-based schemes.
December 11, 2006... Byline: Nic Nicolaou A-day has watered down many of the advantages of traditional trust-based pension schemes. Most employers are evaluating what the best scheme structure is for them: trust-based or contract-based. There has been a...

Reporting the reality behind the headlines.
December 11, 2006... Gascoigne Melotte pensions scheme members "My wife and I both worked for Gascoigne Melotte until approximately six years ago. I had 27 years' service and my wife had seven years' service. I am now 57 years old, and my wife is 52 and...

Weathering portfolio extremes.
December 11, 2006... Byline: Gill Wadsworth Hedging risk has been a key topic for UK pension funds for at least 12 months and the industry has been furiously working to deliver solutions that ease scheme exposure to unnecessary risk. This Pensions Week...

Knowing the odds.
December 11, 2006... Byline: Pamela Atherton Pension funds are increasingly using over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives in their investment strategies, with inflation and interest rates swaps the most commonly used by pension funds in liability-driven investment...

Riding out the storm.
December 11, 2006... Byline: Harry Kat Pension funds have had a lot to deal with over the last decade. Unexpected increases in life expectancy; changing accounting rules; contribution holidays/reductions; low interest rates and poor equity market returns have...

Eurex.
December 11, 2006... Background Eurex is the world's largest futures and options exchange for European benchmark derivatives and is jointly operated by Deutsche Borse AG and SWX Swiss Exchange. Trading volume exceeded 1.25 billion contracts in 2005, surpassing...

Synesis Life trades in Ivory for boardroom post.
December 11, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison Bespoke buyout provider Synesis Life has bolstered its board of directors with the appointment of veteran non-executive director Brian Ivory. Ivory, who will join in January 2007, has considerable board-room...

F&C completes emerging market team with Franklin.
December 11, 2006... F&C Asset Management has boosted its emerging market capability with the appointment of Claire Franklin from a London-based hedge fund. Franklin spent three years with Sloane Robinson Investment Management and joins F&C as an analyst with...

Midas doubles up on business development.
December 11, 2006... Midas Capital Partners has strengthened its business development team with a brace of hires. Ceri Morris, formerly a member of the Zurich Intermediary Group, joins the Liverpool-based firm as business development manager - working to...

Stretton takes on systems at Xafinity.
December 11, 2006... Xafinity has appointed Simon Stretton as its chief information officer (CIO). Stretton's responsibilities will extend across the firm's business operations, including Paymaster, Entegria and Claybrook. He will be in charge of information...

Senior managers undergo restructuring at Suffolk Life.
December 11, 2006... Suffolk Life has overhauled its senior management capability with a series of high profile switches. Henry Catchpole, who is managing director, becomes chief executive, and finance director Renata Chester, takes up the newly created...

Corus of disapproval for scheme in danger.
December 18, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison Thousands of workers' pensions at UK steel giant Corus could be compromised as the frantic bidding war from foreign companies hots up, a Welsh finance minister warned. Corus, which employs 8,000 workers in Wales...

Mirabaud locks down assets after reaching target growth.
December 18, 2006... Mirabaud Investment Management (MIM) is to close its doors to new business after securing GBP2.5bn in assets under management, striking a blow for advocates of boutique fund management. The UK equity house, owned by Swiss private bank...

Unions hit out at CBI for public sector benefits disparity.
December 18, 2006... Byline: Hannah Williams The row over public sector benefits continues to rage as unions hit back at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) for suggesting public sector benefits are hampering improvements to public services. The...

Unions and BA approach consensus but pension scheme future remains in the air.
December 18, 2006... The fate of the British Airways' (BA) troubled pension fund remains uncertain after the latest round of meetings with unions and company officials. During talks over the future of the New Airways Pension Scheme, both sides agreed progress...

BIAM denies staffing troubles.
December 18, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison Embattled Bank of Ireland Asset Management (BIAM) has drafted in a product development specialist from a rival Irish investment house but denied the appointment was linked to a slide in assets under management. ...

Recruitment drive for Threadneedle.
December 18, 2006... Threadneedle has boosted its investment specialist team with two fund management hires, following a series of key departures earlier this year. Trudie Rothery and Rebecca Chesworth join the team as UK equity investment specialist and fixed...

Insight go for Burton.
December 18, 2006... Insight Investments has scooped a senior investment consultant from Mercer Investment Consulting to shore up the fund manager's external relationships. Ian Burton has joined Insight's consultant sales and relationship team and will help...

Deloitte reshuffle.
December 18, 2006... Advisory firm Deloitte has seen the departure of a key member of its pensions consultancy team. Ian Griffiths has resigned from Deloitte's pensions advisory department but the firm refused to disclose his new employer. Griffiths'...

Suffolk seeks specialist.
December 18, 2006... Suffolk County Council pension fund has tendered for an active currency overlay specialist to manage 35% of its assets. The scheme, advised by consultant Hymans Robertson, said it decided to put out to tender for the mandate to boost...