Pensions Week articles from July 2006

Pensions Week archives from July 2006

News: Government's denial outrages ombudsman.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Daniel McAllister The government has triggered a constitutional crisis by rejecting the parliamentary ombudsman's findings of pension maladministration, the chairman of the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) told the...

News: Unprepared schemes could be caught out by impending age discrimination laws.
July 3, 2006... Trustees and employers are still in the dark when it comes to upcoming age discrimination legislation, lawyers warned. The regulations outlawing age discrimination come into force in October, and are likely to have far-reaching implications...

News: DWP branded 'clueless' over latest transfer value proposals.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Hannah Williams A consultation paper published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) outlining calculation approaches to pension transfer values has been dismissed as clueless by consultants. Following concerns raised...

News: Providers should stop blaming technology.
July 3, 2006... Inadequate technology should not be used as an excuse for poor or inefficient service by pension providers, according to a firm specialising in boosting the efficiency of financial services companies. EG Solutions chief executive officer,...

News: Hutton dashes hopes.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Daniel McAllister Hopes of the government compensating the lost pensions of 85,000 people have been dashed as the work and pensions secretary John Hutton ruled out any further funding, last week. Despite mounting pressure from...

News: WHSmith splits pension trust in two.
July 3, 2006... WHSmith is to plug its pension deficit with a one-off payment of GBP50m following the company's demerger into two distinct retail and distribution businesses. As of August this year WHSmith's retail business will be split into the...

News: Passage to India for Liberata offering.
July 3, 2006... Pension administration provider Liberata has teamed up with Indian business services company Genpact to boost its offering to UK pension scheme and insurance companies. Liberata chief executive, Robert Gogel, said: "This gives us a low...

News: NIBS Appointments - SBJ REPLACES GISSINGS.
July 3, 2006... SBJ Benefit Consultants' city division has taken over from Gissings as pension consultants to Clear Channel Outdoor. The consultancy group has been appointed to provide investment, actuarial and pension advice to the outdoor advertising...

News: NIBS Appointments - Added Value appoints alexander forbes.
July 3, 2006... Added Value has appointed Alexander Forbes Financial Services to advise its group personal pension scheme. The consultants will be advising all staff members at the brand development and marketing company on membership of the pension scheme...

News: NIBS Appointments - Hampshire council to use Northern trust.
July 3, 2006... Hampshire County Council has appointed Northern Trust as global custodian to its pension fund, subject to contract. The GBP2.7bn fund was previously managed in-house. A spokesman for the council said all its investment management...

News: NIBS Appointments - Pru renews contract.
July 3, 2006... The 40,000 member Prudential Staff Pensions Scheme has renewed its administration contract with Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) Benefits Solutions. JLT started working with the Prudential in 2002 and has recently migrated the final salary...

News: DB schemes await final closure.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Hannah Williams The trend in defined benefit (DB) closure is set to continue with a third of schemes expected to shut the door to new members in the next three years, research showed. A survey carried out by Aon Consulting of...

News: Capita wins TDG admin contract.
July 3, 2006... Supply chain management comp-any TDG has appointed Capita Hartshead to administer its pension scheme. With a membership in excess of 10,000, the hybrid fund was previously administered in-house, but has now been transferred to Capita's...

News: Letters.(Letter to the editor)
July 3, 2006... CUTTING ACCRUED RIGHTS IS NOT THE WAY TO HELP PENSION SCHEMES The government should think long and hard before entertaining proposals to allow companies with defined benefit schemes to reduce accrued rights. While it is only right for the...

News: TACT goes to court.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Gill Wadsworth Government efforts to limit pension fund legal battles in the European courts to a handful of union members have been thwarted by UK pension fund trustees. The Association of Corporate Trustees (TACT) led by...

News: Big business forced to plug gaps.
July 3, 2006... Pensions legislation has forced big business to make a spate of one-off payments to pension funds in an attempt to plug deficits. According to Mercer Human Resource Consulting, large companies - many of whom are in the FTSE 350 - made...

News: Funds should hold 20% in commodities.
July 3, 2006... Institutional investors should hold up to 20% in commodities, according to an independent study commissioned by fixed income manager Pimco. Research by Ibbotson Associates, an American investment consulting firm, found the optimal...

News: NIBS - People Moves - HSBC recruits lgim development manager.
July 3, 2006... HSBC Investments has recruited an institutional business development manager from Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) just months after the rival poached its head of discretionary. HSBC has appointed Laura Bell from LGIM as part of...

News: NIBS - People Moves - Goldman sachs boosts manager selection team.
July 3, 2006... Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) has bolstered its global manager selection team with the recruitment of a pan-Asian specialist. Natasha Dayaramani has resigned her post as head of Japanese equities with Cambridge Associates to provide...

News: NIBS - People Moves - Skandia loses head to northern trust.
July 3, 2006... Skandia has lost the head of its European equity research team to Northern Trust Global Investments. Joe Hemmant will move over to the Northern Trust's multi-manager team at the end of this month. Skandia's head of US equity research,...

News: Trustee - A definite lack of trust.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Clive Gilchrist "Pension chiefs are now as unpopular as traffic wardens". I was surprised and disappointed recently to see this newspaper headline denigrating my profession. A second glance informed me that a report by Mintel, the...

News: A-day complexity will cause admin chaos.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Hannah Williams Post A-day legislation is set to create an administrative upheaval for pension funds, consultants warned. The tax simplification changes introduced in April this year enabled occupational scheme members to...

News: Absolute returns should be considered.
July 3, 2006... Pension schemes should consider absolute return strategies if they are to outperform their liabilities, according to investment managers. Abdallah Nauphal, deputy chief executive and chief investment officer at Insight Investment, said...

News: Halt in savings decline 'essential'.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Hannah Williams The number of people saving adequately for retirement has deteriorated dramatically in the last year, according to research. The report, published by Scottish Widows, revealed in the past year, only 46% of...

News: ABN launches tactical asset fund.
July 3, 2006... ABN Amro Asset Management has launched a global tactical asset allocation fund (GTAA). The fund aims to provide an uncorrelated source of alpha while exploiting the return differentials in asset classes, regions and currencies through...

News: NAPF Notice Board.
July 3, 2006... New NAPF research Quantity vs quality report Auto-enrolment is a proven way to boost take up of workplace pensions, increasing take up by as much as 50% in some cases. But we have to be aware of the additional costs to employers...

News: Ombudsman Watch.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Norman Russell Pensions paramount Because "pensions have become paramount in deciding deals" (the headline to the article in last week's PW by Marc Hommel of PwC) I found myself jetting back earlier than expected from Munich...

Governance Watch: This is not just a bonus, this is an awful lot of money.
July 3, 2006... Marks & Spencer Group will be holding its annual general meeting (AGM) on June 27, 2006 and RREV is recommending votes in favour of all resolutions. RREV's analysis of its remuneration policy is worthy of note. In the AGM circular, the company...

Spotlight: Delivering the goods.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Crispin Lace Two weeks ago, we left our fictional Forward Thinking Company (FTC) in the middle of overhauling its global DC arrangements. FTC's aim was to create an innovative global DC scheme that would improve its members'...

Opinion: Leader - Up against the wall but still pleading ignorance.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Gill Wadsworth It seems things are coming to a head with the Campaign for Pensions Justice as battles rage on both side of the Channel over who is responsible for the lost millions in retirement benefits. On home soil, the...

Opinion: Personal View - Economy slowdown benefits markets as inflation fears retreat.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Kevin Rendino Recent weeks have been a difficult time for equity markets. The sharp correction reflected the emergence of inflation concerns, which raised the possibility of more aggressive monetary tightening with adverse...

Opinion: Inside View - Losing the public vote over poor pensions management.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Ward In April, the government introduced a single, and supposedly simple, tax system for all types of approved pension schemes. Then in May, it unveiled a white paper setting out its long-term strategy to modernise state...

Virtual Investment Committee.
July 3, 2006... Intro The problem of balancing risk and return is not new for the UK's pension fund trustees, but it is certainly an issue that has gathered momentum since the fall of the equity markets at the end of the 1990s. A greater...

People on the Move: Dalgliesh tackles equities at F&C Asset Management.
July 3, 2006... Byline: Hannah Williams F&C Asset Management has appointed senior fund manager Peter Dalgliesh as director of Pacific equities. Reporting to Mike Hanbury-Williams, he will take lead responsibility for the management of the Pacific...

People on the Move: Short's stock skills bring strength to AXA Framlington.
July 3, 2006... AXA Framlington has strengthened its European desk with the appointment of Tim Short as fund manager. Working alongside Mark Hargraves, manager of the company's European fund, he brings with him a passion for bottom-up stock picking and...

People on the Move: AXA does the money double.
July 3, 2006... AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) has appointed Andrew Dales and Jean-Philippe Gruvel to lead its currency management team. Dales joins as head of currency management and will be responsible for developing and managing AXA IM's active...

People on the Move: Jarvis flexes role as he moves from Mellon to Hewitt.
July 3, 2006... Hewitt Associates has appointed Graham Jarvis as head of its European flexible benefits team. Previously at Mellon, he was responsible for leading the flexible benefits business, giving invest-ment advice to UK corporate pension funds,...

People on the Move: Fidelity develops DB with Williams.
July 3, 2006... Fidelity International has recruited Paul Williams as business development director within its UK defined benefit (DB) market. Reporting to Mark Miller, head of UK DB business development, Williams will help develop relationships with...

News: UK's high earners give pensions the brush-off.
July 10, 2006... Byline: Matthew Craig Confidence in the UK pensions industry is rock bottom by international standards and the majority of mass affluent individuals are deeply concerned about the UK pension crisis, according to research. In a survey...

News: 'Ridiculous' investment strategies need a rethink.
July 10, 2006... Defined benefit (DB) schemes need a radical overhaul of their investment strategies or face closure, consultants warned. Soondra Appavoo, managing director of Psolve Alternative Investments, said many schemes' investment strategies were...

News: Lawyers raise concern of extra pensions burden under TUPE.
July 10, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison Government regulations on company takeovers have raised uncertainty among lawyers over how businesses will be affected. The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) govern the...

News: UK equities outperform US and Japanese to deliver optimistic returns for investors.
July 10, 2006... UK equities have proven a major success story for investors so far this year, according to a senior analyst. UK equities outperformed US and Japanese equities as well as UK bonds, producing optimistic returns for investors since the start...

News: Age directive may prove costly.
July 10, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison Companies could be forced out of providing occupational pension schemes as the government implements costly age discrimination laws, according to pension consultants. The European directive on age discrimination...

News: Commodities returns confusion continues.
July 10, 2006... Consultants are at loggerheads over the merits of pension fund investment in commodities as future returns from the asset class remain unclear. Speaking at the Commodity Investment Summit last week, Henry Jarecki, chairman of Gresham...

News: Mixed reaction to new hedge fund proposals.
July 10, 2006... Proposals to lower the amount of regulation surrounding hedge fund investment have met mixed reactions from the pensions industry. The report, released earlier this week by the EC, called for an end to the regulatory burdens placed on hedge...

News: Retirees face less benefits without advice.
July 10, 2006... Byline: Gill Wadsworth Giving greater investment flexibility to individuals could result in disappointment on retirement unless appropriate support and advice is provided, industry experts warned. Speaking at the Pensions Week A-day...

News: Majority reject age increase.
July 10, 2006... Nearly two-thirds of the UK's working population is against the rise in the state retirement age, a survey revealed. The government proposed to increase the state pension age to 68 from 2044 in its pensions white paper, which is set to...

News: Company scheme deficits drop by one-third in June to GBP35bn.
July 10, 2006... Company pension scheme deficits fell by a third in June despite stock markets remaining flat over the month, a survey has revealed. Scheme deficits have reduced from GBP52bn to GBP35bn under FRS 17 for the UK's largest 200 pension schemes,...

News: NPC launches reform alternative.
July 10, 2006... Byline: Daniel McAllister An alternative white paper on pension reform was launched at the House of Commons last week backed by unions and the National Pensioners Convention (NPC) in a bid to force ministers to make radical changes to...

News: UK managers pessimistic for future.
July 10, 2006... Investment managers in the UK are less confident about future revenue growth than their global counterparts, a survey showed. The study, carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), found that while half of the global respondents predicted...

News: JPMorgan loses custody.
July 10, 2006... JPMorgan has been replaced by ABN Amro Mellon Global Securities Services as global custodian to the North Yorkshire pension fund. Following a six-month selection process and formal review of custodian arrangements, the fund appointed ABN...

News: Name Correction: Aon Consulting VIC entry.(Correction notice)
July 10, 2006... In last week's Virtual Investment Committee (PW 3.7.06), the final response was incorrectly attributed to Guy Plater at Punter Southall. The response was in fact written by Ian McKinlay, head of investment consulting practice at Aon...

News: NIBS Fund Launches - Ethical fund for HSBC.
July 10, 2006... HSBC Investments has launched an ethical fund focusing on European multinational companies considered to be leaders in sustainable development. Created with the help of the Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD), the fund is...

News: NIBS Fund Launches - Halibis commodities fund.
July 10, 2006... Halibis Partners is to launch its first commodities fund later this summer. The HSBC commodities alpha fund will run on a discretionary fundamental, multi-sector basis investing in all sub-sectors of the commodity markets. Halibis...

News: NIBS Fund Launches - Strategic PGI launch.
July 10, 2006... Principle Global Investors (PGI) has launched its strategic fixed income fund for the Euopean market, following an identical strategy in Australia two years ago. The fund, which targets sectors including high yield securities and preferred...

News: Sting in the Tale - So simple and plain.
July 10, 2006... Byline: Steve Bee Here I'm reproducing an extract from a press release that was put out by the Treasury Select Committee following its recent inquiry into the proposal for a National Pension Savings Scheme (NPSS): A model for future...

News: Friends Provident closes salary scheme.
July 10, 2006... Byline: Daniel McAllister Friends Provident is the latest casualty of final salary scheme closure sparking uproar from unions over the continuing trend. The pensions and life provider has closed the door on its GBP900m final salary...

News: Early savers reap the biggest benefits.
July 10, 2006... Money saved into a pension during your twenties will highjump seven fold by retirement, a survey revealed. According to Fidelity International, the power of compound growth means the higher the savings rate and the earlier the start, the...

News: Derivatives trend feeds market.
July 10, 2006... Byline: Hannah Williams The number of UK pension schemes using derivatives to manage liabilities is growing rapidly and fuelling the inflation-linked market, according to consultants. Watson Wyatt predicted the size of the UK market...

News: MSIM offers LDI in corporate market.
July 10, 2006... Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) has launched a new venture, Alpha Plus, offering companies a chance to tackle their pension liabilities through liability-driven investment (LDI). The Alpha Plus funds provide UK pension schemes...

News: NAPF Notice Board.
July 10, 2006... Inside Investment September 6, 2006 NAPF London For trustees wishing to gain a broader and deeper knowledge of investment issues at advanced level. The environment in which pension fund trustees operate has become more...

News: Ombudsman Watch.
July 10, 2006... Byline: Norman Russell Allez les Vieux It was hot, hot, hot on the Northern line. The other passengers' perspiration was not providing me with any inspiration for this week's column. So I had a snoop at what my fellow travellers were...

Campaign for Pensions Justice: Reporting the reality behind the headlines.
July 10, 2006... Christiani & Nielsen pension scheme member "I joined Christiani & Nielsen (C&N) in September 1969 and I joined the C&N pension scheme on May 1, 1971. This was the earliest date on which I could join. The pension scheme formed part of...

Opinion: Leader - Whingeing poms are wasting their energy.
July 10, 2006... Byline: Gill Wadsworth No wonder the British are always accused of whingeing. If it's not too hot, it's too cold or it's too rainy, or we've been booted out of the World Cup thanks to a cheating Portuguese show pony, or we're rubbish at...

Opinion: Personal View - Commodities - an understandable investment.
July 10, 2006... Byline: Iain Lindsay Part of the appeal of commodities is they form a tangible part of our everyday lives and are instantly understandable. We are all familiar with agricultural crops such as wheat and coffee, the many energy sources,...

Opinion: Inside View - Open up the voting process and benefit shareholders.
July 10, 2006... Byline: Karina Litvack This year, F&C's clients have gained access both to more efficient execution of their share voting, and to better quality research. This was achieved by in-sourcing the coordination of its proxy voting service. F&C...

Governance Watch: Aveva Group faces tough questions over governance.
July 10, 2006... Aveva Group is holding its annual general meeting (AGM) on July 14, 2006 and RREV is raising some concerns regarding its corporate governance. The overall composition of the company's board meets the combined code principle for listed...

Spotlight: Eager to please.
July 10, 2006... Byline: Julian Aylmer In the words of its former chairman, Harriet Maunsell, the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (OPRA) "was envisaged as being a small reactive regulator with no more than about 50 staff and dealing with around...

Roundtable: A-day: The Aftermath - How UK schemes are coping with pensions simplification.(Discussion)
July 10, 2006... Intro With pensions simplification now three months old, the industry is starting to come to terms with the impact of A-day. With this greater flexibility, the UK's retirement savers should be enjoying the freedom of working while...

Roundtable: Simplification: the effects on the industry of A-day.
July 10, 2006... Gill Wadsworth, editor, Pensions Week: Were UK companies ready for A-day? Ian Price, head of pensions, St James's Place: There are two angles on this: the provider's angle and the company's angle. From the provider's perspective, you just...

People on the Move: Perry takes leading role at ITS as expansion rolls on.
July 10, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison Carol Perry has been appointed director of the Independent Trustee Services (ITS) as part of the company's ongoing expansion. Based in London, Perry, who has worked in the pensions industry for 30 years, will...

People on the Move: Kuhn joins Euro credit team at Aberdeen.
July 10, 2006... In a bid to boost its ambitions in the European credit markets, Aberdeen Asset Management has appointed Wolfgang Kuhn to its European investment grade credit team. Kuhn, who was previously at UBS in both Frankfurt and London, will join as...

People on the Move: R&M puts Hanbury in UK equity role.
July 10, 2006... River and Mercantile Asset Management (R&M) has appointed Daniel Hanbury as a partner and fund manager in its UK equity division. Hanbury, who moved from Investec Asset Management, will link up with Hugh Sergeant and Richard Staveley from...

People on the Move: Milson moves into SLI fixed income.
July 10, 2006... Standard Life Investments has appointed Arthur Milson as investment director for its fixed income sector. He joins from the Bank of Scotland, where he was associate director in integrated and acquisition finance. At Standard Life,...

People on the Move: PCS brings in Cowling to boost expansion hopes.
July 10, 2006... Charles Cowling is set to join newly launched consultancy firm Pension Capital Strategies (PCS) to boost its expansion ambitions. Starting at the end of July, Cowling will work alongside PCS founder Peter Redhead to address companies...

People on the Move: Watson Wyatt hires Hoile for research.
July 10, 2006... David Hoile is joining Watson Wyatt as a senior investment consultant. He will be part of the company's asset research team, and will report to Chris Ford, head of investment strategy, and Robert Brown, chair of the global investment...

News: Alternatives advice is failing UK schemes.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Hannah Williams Consultant knowledge of alternative investment vehicles has been branded a 'con' by one of the UK's largest pension schemes. Philip Jones, investment manager at the GBP3bn London Pension Fund Authority (LPFA),...

News: T&N vows to keep fighting despite PPF assessment.
July 17, 2006... The action group for members of the Turner & Newall (T&N) pension scheme, which has just entered the assessment period for Pension Protection Fund (PPF) membership, has promised to continue its fight for better treatment. The T&N Action...

News: MPs last hope as Europe reprieves government.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Gill Wadsworth MPs are the last hope for scheme members battling for compensation for lost pensions after it looked likely the European courts would not force the UK government to payout. Following the advocate general's...

News: Government hints at compensation for those affected by foreign insolvencies.
July 17, 2006... The government continued to cause confusion among scheme members fighting for lost pensions by hinting it would consider compensation for employees of companies registered insolvent abroad. In the midst of a review of the Financial...

News: SBJ causes a stir in the market.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Hannah Williams A new player in the pension benefit consultancy market has caused a mass migration of consultants and clients from rival firm Gissings. SBJ City Division, launched by ex-Gissings managing director Eamonn...

News: Young workers thinking in short term.
July 17, 2006... A quarter of the UK's young workers have rejected the government's proposed National Pension Savings Scheme (NPSS), a survey has revealed. Research carried out by JPMorgan Invest found that 18-34 year olds were guilty of short-term...

News: Pension schemes detrimental to profit, claims CBI.
July 17, 2006... Pension schemes are detrimental to company profit but UK companies remain committed to providing retirement schemes, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) claimed. According to research conducted by the CBI in tandem with Mercer...

News: Pensions Regulator's code of practice laid before parliament.
July 17, 2006... Regulations governing the use of member nominated trustees for pension schemes have been laid before parliament. The Pensions Regulator's code of practice dictates that sponsoring companies must have at least one-third member nominated...