Pensions Week articles from February 2003

Pensions Week archives from February 2003

News: Baillie Gifford fee rise stirs up LAs.
February 3, 2003... Fund manager Baillie Gifford has created a stir amongst local authorities by increasing its investment management fees. Major councils such as the GBP6.5bn Strathclyde pension fund, the GBP507m Highland Council pension fund, and the...

News: UEF and ASW members march on for pension rights.(Unuted Engineering Forgings, Allied Steel Wire)
February 3, 2003... Hundreds of workers who have lost out on pension rights since their companies wound-up their schemes were due to march on Whitehall last Saturday to protest at their treatment. Led by members of the United Engineering Forgings (UEF)...

News: South Norfolk layoffs run-up oe338,000 liability.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Redundancies at South Norfolk council have left the pension fund with an additional liability of GBP338,000. Redundancy costs of GBP119,000 will be a one-off cost to the council, but the strain on the pension fund will take five years to...

News: Information drought leads to oe10,000 liability charge for NU.
February 3, 2003... Norwich Union Life & Pensions has been directed to pay GBP10,000 towards an employer's GBP55,000 pensions liability after it failed to provide adequate information over a pension scheme's funding level. The employer that established the...

News: UK financial advisers are well in front of European counterparts.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... The UK financial advice market is the "by far the most developed" in Europe, a report out today claims. European Financial Advisers 2003, by independent market analyst Datamonitor, finds that financial advice markets vary widely. In...

News: LRT forex costs halved by new method.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... LRT Pension Fund, which is ranked around 30th in size in the UK and has assets approaching GBP3bn, has halved its foreign exchange (forex) transaction costs by applying a methodology developed by foreign currency specialist, Record Currency...

News: DB or not DB? Court to rule on status of KPMG scheme.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Global accounting firm KPMG is seeking a court judgement on whether or not the scheme it runs for its employees is a money purchase fund. Former trustee Capita clashed with the accountants in January 2002 when it questioned KPMG over the...

News: Parliament puts wind-up law on fast track.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... A cross-party early day motion (EDM) has been placed in parliament in a bid to speed up legislation to protect pension scheme members in wind-ups. Sponsored by shadow pensions secretary David Willetts and co-sponsored by former pensions...

News: Punter launches FRS17 online service.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Punter Southall has launched an FRS17 internet service which details how companies fare under the accounting rule. The interactive research tool is aimed at analysts and financial advisers who want to compare and contrast the pensions...

News: Burden of proof falls on excluded part-timers.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Workers who have been excluded from an occupational pension scheme in the past will have to prove that they were discriminated against before being re- instated, following an interim decision made by the employment tribunal. The hearing...

News: oe507m Highland fund under review.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... The GBP507m Highland Council pension fund has placed its entire portfolio under review due to market conditions. The council has not made a decision about mandates but may consider a move from balanced to a specialist structure. The...

News: Carr new driving force behind Scot Eq SSAS.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Scottish Equitable has transferred its small self-administered scheme (SSAS) business to fast growing actuarial firm Hazell Carr. Hazell Carr will take over the operation of the SSAS as well as the trustee company, Scottish Equitable...

News: Letters - Maxwell victims.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Following your article "Last hope for Maxwell victims" (PW 20.1.03), I write to inform you that the government is not (as your article suggests) advising the members of the Maxwell Communications Pension Plan (MCPP) to seek financial help from...

News: Letters - Longevity and discrimination.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... There has been much welcome progress towards equality but the process needs to work both ways. Equality in terms of defined contribution pension annuities depends very much on what you measure. Those most fundamentally discriminated against...

News: War fears drive down life stocks.
February 3, 2003... Shares in the life assurance sector plunged last week as the FTSE 100 went into freefall on fears of an imminent war with Iraq. Birmingham-based life assurer, Britannic Assurance, plunged 14p to 101p, down 12%, on Wednesday, triggering...

News: Final salary sector falls hit L&G group pensions.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... The shrinking final salary sector hit Legal & General (L&G) last year as group annual premiums fell by 20% to GBP37m, although UK new business overall was up 14% on an annual premium equivalent basis. Lower volumes of group single premium...

News: Group pensions up 12% at Friends.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Friends Provident increased group pension by 12% to GBP158m, but total new pensions business decreased by 2.3% to GBP234.6m. Friends said the decrease reflected the "exceptional" group pension business in the final quarter of 2001 -...

News: Scottish Life increases new business by 26%.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Scottish Life achieved a 26% increase in new business in 2002, up from GBP127m to GBP160m, as measured by annual premium equivalent (APE) - the standard measure of life and pensions new business. Individual pensions increased by almost 30%...

News: Unifi shuns part-timer DB offer.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... A finance union has refused the latest part-timer settlement offer by building society Northern Rock, which recently refused to re-instate staff into a defined benefit scheme (PW 27.1.03). Northern Rock told Unifi that it will re-instate...

News: FTSE 100 companies become more honest about environmental practices.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... More than 50% of FTSE 100 companies have improved their reporting on carbon emissions following pressure from the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF), the forum says. LAPFF has targeted FTSE 100 companies over the past year because...

News: The rich are getting poorer.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Wealthy savers have seen their funds hit by a drop of over 12%, due to stock market performance. The average net return for private client income funds was -12.1% last year, while results for balanced and growth funds were -17.5% and...

News: James Hay opens office in Edinburgh.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... James Hay Pension Trustees has opened a Scottish consultancy office in Edinburgh. The consultancy office provides a specialist service in corporate financial planning around the use of small self-administered schemes and funded unapproved...

News: Benchmark - Battling against the odds.
February 3, 2003... A week is currently a long time in both politics and financial markets. For some time it had appeared that the markets had priced in a short conflict in Iraq, but the closer the real likelihood of war has become, the more markets have faltered....

News: Green paper maths muddle admitted.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... The government has admitted it may have got its sums wrong in the pensions green paper over bonus lump sums for deferring retirement. The green paper stated that if a person deferred their state pension for five years, they would receive a...

News: FSA hikes fees to cut oe31m final salary deficit.
February 3, 2003... The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is to increase its fees to advisers and other regulated companies in a bid to steady the escalating pensions costs that it revealed last week. The regulator is to pass on a GBP2.5m bill, as part of a...

News: Quarrell ends 30 years in pensions.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... One of the UK's top pensions lawyers, John Quarrell, has retired from Nabarro Nathanson, ending a career in pensions law spanning more than 30 years. After three years at Clerical Medical, Quarrell joined Nabarro Nathanson in 1973 and rose...

News: Ombudsman Watch.
February 3, 2003... Entire agreement? Lawyers and employers like entire agreement clauses. Usually they will protect an employer against claims based on representations made before conclusion of a written contract. Employers do not have to worry about pension...

News: Stay away from the trustbusters.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has alerted consumers about pensions liberation, also known as "trust busting", whereby pension pots can be cashed in early due to inadequate laws. FSA said that many people could lose as much as 80%...

News: Actuaries: FSA reforms will fail.
February 3, 2003... Actuaries have claimed that the Financial Authority Service's (FSA) reforms of life companies will fail to deliver customer protection. The FSA plans to make the use of with-profits more transparent, as well as make directors explicitly...

News: Epic journey ahead for consultancy addressing Myners.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... A consultancy due launch next week is to specialise in addressing issues identified by the Paul Myners review of institutional investment management. Epic Investment Consulting sees itself as a translator for lay trustees who face complex...

News: Aegon UK grabs a stake in Aurora Financial Group.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Aegon UK has taken a 9% stake in the independent advisory business of Aurora Financial Group for an undisclosed amount, with the option to take a significant interest. Aurora will join Aegon UK as part of its Distribution Holdings and...

News: SWIP has IT make-over.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) has re-vamped its front office with new software. SWIP, one of Scotland's largest investment companies with GBP70bn under management at 31 December 2002, has installed a full suite of...

News: DB deficit swells to oe65bn in 2002.(defined benefit)(Industry Overview)
February 3, 2003... Britain's largest companies' defined benefit (DB) deficit has grown from GBP0.2bn at the end of 2001 to more than GBP65bn at the end of 2002, analysts estimate. Morgan Stanley predicts a renewal of investor concerns about the size of off-...

News: TUC offers the Smart move online.(Trades Union Congress offers financial tool via web site)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is offering the 13 million employees without an occupational pension the chance to find out how much they need to save to guarantee a decent retirement income. On its working life website,...

News: Calls for open voting on fiery issues.(Trades Union Congress wants to know how investment managers vote )(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has demanded that investment managers reveal how they vote on controversial issues in companies they hold shares in. The TUC said it is surveying fund manager records during 2002 and the information will...

News: Doherty to take on risk management.(lecture of Neil Doherty)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... A leading academic in the field of insurance and risk management is to give this year's Watson Wyatt lecture. Neil Doherty, professor of insurance and risk management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, will talk on the...

News: Financial services industry fights the gloomy outlook.(Brief Article)(Industry Overview)
February 3, 2003... The prospects for the $4.800bn global financial services industry remain strong and its total market value could triple over the next 10 years to $1,500bn, according to the results of a report by strategy consultants Oliver, Wyman & Company....

News: Asian markets moving on up.(investment standards in Asia discussed)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Trading practices in Asia are approaching those of more developed markets like Europe, but still fall behind the United States, research shows. Consultancy Greenwich Associates said that in both internal business management and external...

News: FP&P hedges bets on emerging markets.(Fabien Pictet & Partners )(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Specialist emerging markets firm Fabien Pictet & Partners has launched a fixed income hedge fund. The fund will trade emerging markets bonds on a long/short basis. According to Fabien Pictet, emerging markets have far outperformed...

News: Euro equity pick-up predicted.(recovery in European equity markets for 2003)(Industry Overview)
February 3, 2003... Investment managers are predicting a recovery of European equity markets this year, with average returns as high as 15% anticipated in 2003 for both UK and continental European stocks. Annual returns of between 5% and 10% are expected over...

News: Britannic bonds pledge to match funding levels.(Britannic Asset Management introduces long corporate bond pension fund)
February 3, 2003... Britannic Asset Management has launched a long corporate bond pension fund, saying it will meet the needs of pensions managers when it comes to funding levels and liability matching. The new fund is actively managed and aims to outperform...

News: ABP becomes a specialist through Innovest fund stake.(ABP fund buys stake in Innovest Strategic Value Advisors)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Europe's largest pension fund has brought a minority equity stake in a specialised investment research firm. The GBP92.9bn ABP fund has bought a stake in Innovest Strategic Value Advisors after its teaming up with the ABP's subsidiary,...

Spotlight: The perfect family.(public sector employee benefits )
February 3, 2003... Labour MP James Purnell's recent 10 minute rule Bill, calling for survivor benefits to be granted to unmarried couples in public sector schemes, has increased the pressure on schemes to revisit this issue. Currently, 23% of public sector...

Governance Watch: Size (and age) matters.(directors for public companies)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Public companies are required by law to have at least two directors but, in theory, a board can be as large as a company wants it to be. In practice, investors may consider whether a board has become too large for business to be carried out...

Opinion: Leader - Reappraising the role of equities.(funds marketing falling )(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... The latest dramatic falls in the FTSE 100 will have caused deep alarm and unease for many in the pensions and savings arena. After three years of falling markets, equity investors must be desperately hoping that January's decline in share...

Opinion: Communication View - Why can't the pensions industry talk the talk?(Editorial)
February 3, 2003... The pensions industry is using the falling stock market to explain its failure to attract business rather than addressing its real failure: to communicate effectively with potential members and treat them like customers. Defined...

Opinion: Inside View - When insolvency has nothing to do with wind-ups.(employers' attitudes toward final salary schemes discussed)(Editorial)
February 3, 2003... Shortly before the government's green paper Simplicity, Security and Choice: Working and Saving for Retirement was published on 17 December 2002, the National Association of Pension Funds published the results of a survey showing that the...

People on the move: Littlewood tackles the North West for Bucks Consultants.(Buck Consultants names Marc Littlewood as senior investment consultant)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Buck Consultants has appointed Marc Littlewood as senior investment consultant. He joins from Mercer Investment Consulting where he held a similar role. He will be based in Buck's Manchester office and will help develop the investment...

People on the move: Tait and Cooke take Baillie partners to 24.(Baillie Gifford names Pete Cooke, Anthony Tait as partners)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Fund manager Baillie Gifford has appointed two partners - Pete Cooke and Anthony Tait. The firm is wholly owned and run by its partners and the appointment takes the total number of partners to 24. Cooke, a client service director in...

People on the move: London's calling for Hanna as he moves over from Boston.(David Hanna joins State Street Global Advisors' active equity team in London)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... State Street Global Advisors' senior investment manager and co-strategy leader for its European long-short market neutral fund, David Hanna, has relocated from Boston to join the fund manager's London-based active equity team. He will...

News Just In... : Life firms won't go bust, says Cazalet.(Ned Cazalet )(Industry Overview)
February 3, 2003... British life companies are unlikely to go bust despite continuing falls in the stock market, according to a leading insurance company analyst. Reacting to warnings of with-profit providers collapsing in the wake of massive dips on the...

News Just In... : Minorities urged to get involved in green paper.(UK government encourges minority participation in pensions green paper process)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... The government has urged older black and ethnic minority people to get involved in the pensions green paper consultation. Speaking at the Policy Research Institute on Ageing and Ethnicity, the pensions minister, Ian McCartney, acknowledged...

News Just In... : UBS wins oe120m Cambridgeshire equity mandate.(UBS Asset Management to manage mandate for Cambridgeshire County Council)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Cambridgeshire County Council pension fund has appointed UBS Asset Management to manage a GBP120m equity mandate. As a result, the fund has dropped JPMorgan Fleming Asset Management which managed a GBP250m balanced mandate. As part of...

News: Calor split sparks funding level push.(Calor Gas pension fund splits consultancy work between Watson Wyatt and Barnett Waddingham)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... The Calor Gas pension fund has split its consultancy work between two advisers in a bid to push up the scheme's funding level. The fund appointed Watson Wyatt to work alongside its usual advisers Barnett Waddingham. Using two consultants...

News: Hymans Robertson goes out to market in major shake-up of administration software.(Profund is being reviewed)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... Consultant Hymans Robertson is reviewing its third-party administration pensions software provider Profund as part of a move to upgrade its current systems. Hymans said any upgrade of the current system would require significant work, so...

News: Dorset reviews actuary after 25 years.(Dorset County Council pension fund is reviewing actuary Watson Wyatt)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... The GBP700m Dorset County Council pension fund is reviewing its actuary, Watson Wyatt, for the first time since 1974. The trustees decided to review Watson to ensure the pension fund is in line with best value requirements, which requires...

News: Bridgeland challenges industry to design new DC strategies.(Sally Bridgeland, a Hewitt Bacon & Woodrow associate, discusses the defined contribution pension scheme situation)
February 10, 2003... UK defined contribution (DC) pension schemes should consider using cash funds as part of lifestyle investment strategies for new members, according to a leading investment consultant. Sally Bridgeland, an associate at Hewitt Bacon &...

News: BBC committed to DB as surplus dips to oe441m.(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... BBC has reaffirmed its commitment to keeping a final salary pension scheme after its latest triennial valuation of the GBP5bn scheme revealed a GBP441m surplus, down from GBP611m three years ago, and a funding level of 109%. BBC head of...

News: No benefit for schemes from Bank rate cut.(Bank of England)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... The Bank of England interest rate cut to 3.75% last week is widely held to be of no benefit to pension savings. The cut is expected to give the economy a short-term boost, although some industry experts argue the move is a medium-term risk....

News: Government to review 1% stakeholder cap.(stakeholder pensions)
February 10, 2003... In a major climbdown, the government has indicated it is willing to review the 1% a year cap on charges for stakeholder pensions and the suite of low cost savings products recommended by Ron Sandler in his review of retail investment published...

News: NAPF bring in Lindey for corporate governance boost.(National Association of Pension Funds appoints Geoff Lindey as strategic adviser)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has boosted its corporate governance team with the appointment of a former managing director of strategic relationships at JPMorgan Fleming Asset Management. Geoff Lindey will take on his...

News: Lecturers' pension transfer lobbying gets EC's attention.(Lecturers' Employment Advice & Action Fellowship)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... The European Commission (EC) is considering infringement proceedings against the UK government following successful lobbying from a lecturers union, which claimed staff who were transferred to another employer should receive pension benefits as...

News: Liability review prompts Bucks investment shake-up.(Buckinghamshire County Council pension fund)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... The GBP711m Buckinghamshire County Council pension fund is reviewing its investment structure, following an asset liability study carried out by adviser Watson Wyatt. Buckinghamshire has yet to decide what changes it will make and whether...

News: Standard Life cuts with-profits bonus rates by 15%.(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... Standard Life has reduced bonus rates and payouts on with-profits policies in the UK by a typical sum of 15%. The mutual life assurance company said this was "against a background of extremely difficult investment conditions". Clerical...

News: PMI opens to new members.(Pensions Management Institute)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... The Pensions Management Institute (PMI) has introduced a new category of member in order to broaden its appeal to individuals working in the pensions industry. It has decided to allow anyone with the Retirement Provision Diploma, the...

News: Ombudsman Watch.(Equitable Life's pensions are discussed)
February 10, 2003... Inequitable I have to declare a vested interest in this week's determination. It is one in which the ombudsman has decided to give away some of the money I have been saving for my retirement. Readers with long memories may recall how this...

News: Sting in the tale - It's a problem, get over it.(The UK pension crisis situation is examined)
February 10, 2003... Crisis? What crisis? I'd like to be able to say that about the supposed UK pensions crisis without people telling me that doing a Neville Chamberlain or something and that I should be waving a piece of paper while I'm saying it. I'm not into...

News: AUM plunge sees Axa revenue suffer sharp fall.(assets under management and Axa Investment Managers)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... The fund management arm of Axa suffered a sharp fall in revenue last year on the back of huge dip in assets under management over the course of 2002. In total, Axa Investment Managers and Alliance Capital lost more than E150bn (GBP98.7bn)...

News: PRA: education's what you need for financial know-how.(Pre-Retirement Association)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... The Pre-Retirement Association (PRA) has teamed up with a group of companies to develop an interactive financial education strategy. The service, which is due to be launched next month, includes a website and workbooks for individuals and...

News: There's no quick fix for the poorest pensioners, says Smith.(Andrew Smith is secretary of state for work and pensions)
February 10, 2003... Secretary of state for work and pensions, Andrew Smith, has defended the government's inertia over the state pension system in the recent green paper, saying any changes would hit the poorest pensioners. Speaking at a Taxbriefs conference...

News: New Insight liquidity fund gains AAA rating.(Insight Investment)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... Insight Investment - which has just acquired Rothschild Asset Management - has launched a new sterling liquidity fund with an AAA rating from Standard & Poor's Money Market Fund Ratings. The fund is aimed at institutional investors and it...

News: Benefits info launched online.(HS Administrative Services and Aegon UK Distribution jointly launch the pensions service)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... Third-party administrator HS Administrative Services has launched an online pensions service which will provide members with hands-on access to their scheme benefits information. The service, which has been developed in conjunction with...

News: PwC praises Ralfe's move into bonds.(PricewaterhouseCoopers praises John Ralfe)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has praised John Ralfe, the former Boots pension scheme director who placed the fund entirely in bonds and then suddenly departed recently amid rumours of a management bust up. PwC said it is wrong to think the...

News: Equitable group action gets OK.(Equitable Life)
February 10, 2003... A High Court ruling in Bristol's mercantile court has given the go ahead for the first 10 Equitable mis-selling claims to go to trial as a group action after Easter 2004. Law firm, Clarke Willmott & Clark, which has been representing the...

News: Pension firm apologises to family of 'dead' policyholder.( )
February 10, 2003... A pensions and investment firm had to apologise to a policyholder's family after claiming the wife of the policyholder had informed the company that the client was dead. In a bulletin, the Financial Ombudsman Service said 10 years after...

News: Millfield set to acquire RST.(Millfield Group is acquiring RST Group)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... Independent financial adviser Millfield Group has acquired chartered accountant RST Group. The company bought a 20% stake for GBP840,000 and expects to acquire a further 80% over a period of three years. The acquisition takes the...

News: Events - Simple chat.(Barnett Waddingham will hold seminars)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... Actuaries and consultants Barnett Waddingham are to hold a series of seminars that will debate how the Inland Revenue simplification plans for pensions will affect certain schemes. In focus will be small self-administered schemes,...

News: Events - Local issues discussed.(Local Government Pension Investment Forum is slated to be held shortly)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... The Local Government Pension Investment Forum will be held on May 15. Organised by IBC, the opening address will be given by Terry Crossley, from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. One investment manager and one elected member of the...

News: US$13,000bn wiped off savings.
February 10, 2003... Falls in worldwide equity markets during 2000 to 2002 saw US$13,000bn (GBP7,800bn) wiped off people's savings. This is the equivalent to $2,000 for every man, woman, and child on the planet. Academics Elroy Dimson, Paul Marsh and Mike...

News: Hopes pinned on UK equities.(Foreign & Colonial Management chief investment officer Tony Broccardo gives opinions)
February 10, 2003... Foreign & Colonial Management (F&C) has backed UK equities, saying the sector is likely to outperform other equity markets while the global economy remains weak. War with Iraq is the main issue dampening UK and other markets, although...

News: Dresdner merger leads to rebrand.(Dresdner RCM Global Investors (UK) becomes Allianz Dresdner Asset Management (UK))(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... Dresdner RCM Global Investors (UK) has renamed itself Allianz Dresdner Asset Management (UK). The company said the move reflects the full integration with Allianz Group's asset management business which took place in March 2002. ...

Spotlight: A lasting legacy.(Maxwell Communications Pension Plan matters are discussed)
February 10, 2003... The dispute between the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and independent trustee, Law Debenture, over a surplus in one of the Maxwell pension schemes has hit the buffers as each side continues to hold different views. The DWP has...

Governance Watch: Stemming excessive golden handshakes.(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... There is always a great deal of media attention when a chief executive resigns from a company which is regarded to have been failing, because of the severance payment he or she might receive. If shareholders have lost money then a large pay out...

Feature: Keeping up with the competition.(The UK pension system is examined)
February 10, 2003... The green paper shows that state funding of pensions is well under control in the UK, especially relative to other countries in Europe. But this is not necessarily good news. If the Exchequer will be spending much less as a proportion of gross...