Pensions Week articles from July 2009

Pensions Week archives from July 2009

News: Retirement age could rise to 68 for CofE.
July 6, 2009... Byline: David Rowley The Church of England Pensions Board has proposed raising its retirement age to 68 to help cut its soaring liabilities. The board is also weighing up a move to a hybrid scheme, and moving all future accrual for a...

This week: Media-proof pensions required.
July 6, 2009... Byline: David Rowley - Editor Are the simplistic, shock-inducing and often misleading headlines about pensions in the media setting the agenda for the sort of pensions we get? In May, John Healy, the minister of local government,...

News: Govt questions 100% LGPS funding target.
July 6, 2009... Byline: David Rowley The government has moved to prevent local government pension scheme (LGPS) liabilities inflating council tax bills in 2011, with two proposed rule changes. In a paper sent out to LGPS schemes and participating...

News: Emerging markets rally is a sign of more to come.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Charlie Kirby The recent emerging markets investment surge of 35% is a sign of long-term growth and not a bubble, say fund managers. Emerging markets posted their best performance last week, since the FTSE All- World Emerging...

News: DWP denies costs of PAs have been underestimated.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Charlie Kirby A row has broken out over the implementation costs of auto-enrolment and personal accounts. A paper published by the University of Warwick's Institute for Employment Research (IER) has suggested that if the...

News: PW campaign gets off to a flying start.
July 6, 2009... Byline: David Rowley The first entries for our Rethinking Pensions campaign have been received within days of its launch. One has been received from a FTSE 100 pensions manager, and another has come from leading actuary Hamish Wilson....

News in brief.
July 6, 2009... Only a handful of trustees have requested early formal actuarial valuations in response to the recession, according to a survey of Mercer's 100 largest clients. A separate survey by Mercer of FTSE 100 companies found life expectancy...

News: Schemes warned over hedge fund bandwagon.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Charlie Kirby Pension funds should not rush into investing in hedge funds on the back of rising returns, according to Standard & Poor Fund Services. Hedge funds made 9.73% in the first half of 2009, shows data from Hedge Fund...

News: Letter: New minister's challenge.
July 6, 2009... To Yvette Cooper, the new secretary of state at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). You occupy one of the hottest cabinet seats of the last 12 years. If you only have 12 months in charge (a distinct possibility, you've got to admit),...

News: Investment insight - Absolute return: the shape of things to come.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Philip Barleggs - Fixed income team, State Street Global Advisors Active investors seeking to outperform their neutral benchmark should be agnostic about the source of their active returns. Provided their asset manager is capable...

News: Letter: Short selling.
July 6, 2009... Pension funds are being exposed to dangers that few believed possible (letter, June 19). Pensions Week could do the country a great service if they were to conduct their own investigation into the protection afforded to pension funds. But David...

News: Letter: Lending funds.
July 6, 2009... May I congratulate Hymans Robertson, M&G and the 20 or so pension funds raising money for a lending fund to favoured mid cap stocks. I'd like to suggest two other funds that might be particularly rewarding and socially useful: A fund...

News: Towers Watson created in merger.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Tom Willetts Employee benefit firms Watson Wyatt and Towers Perrin are to merge in a $3.5bn (GBP2.14bn) deal to expand their global reach. The new company will be called Towers Watson & Co and will be led by Watson Wyatt chief...

A Pensions Week Campaign: Rethinking pensions - Send in your ideas for middle way/hybrid pension schemes by September 15th.
July 6, 2009... Entry requirements All entries should be submitted by email to rethinkingpensions@ft.com. Your entry must be no more than 500 words long and may include one graphic if desired. Entries that are longer may be omitted. We understand...

News: Final salary closures will prop DC premiums.
July 6, 2009... Byline: David Rowley Most insurers claim that premiums into defined contribution (DC) schemes will hold steady over 2009, despite a 2.4% contraction of the economy in Q1. A common forecast is that while premiums will be hit by a...

News: MNTs on the ropes in employer negotiations.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Charlie Kirby Member-nominated trustees at employers facing financial crises are finding it harder to defend the interests of pension fund beneficiaries. The comments come from a survey by Trustee GAAPS, which found that...

In depth: Talking heads.
July 6, 2009... 1 - What have we learnt from the recent financial crisis in terms of active management? 2 - How will active managers justify fees when the current volatility subsides? 3 - What are your strategy plans for the next year, and what...

In depth: Personal accounts are an addition, not a replacement.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Tim Jones - Chief executive, Personal Accounts Delivery Authority (PADA) Considering recent media reports, one would be forgiven for thinking the personal accounts scheme is set to take over the pensions sector from 2012. Fear...

In depth: Personal view - The case for independent trustees simply continues to strengthen.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Rachel Brougham There is no doubt the demand for independent trustees is on the increase, but the reasons for their appointment are varied, ranging from a need for expertise, through the management of conflicts, to a difficulty in...

In depth: Jargon buster.
July 6, 2009... Opting out This is when an employee leaves a pension scheme or chooses not to join one. Open market option When buying an annuity, pension scheme members do not have to purchase from their existing pension provider. If they chose...

In depth: Technical view - Trustees coping well with transfer values.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Ben Shaw From October 1, 2008, it became the responsibility of pension scheme trustees to take the decisions on which the calculation of cash equivalent transfer values is based. This means that, although normally guided by their...

In depth: Corporate governance - Good show from M&S's master of ceremonies.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Tom Powdrill This week will see another interesting company meeting for those annual general meeting (AGM) watchers among you. The company is, of course, Marks & Spencer, whose annual meeting takes place on July 8. This iconic...

In depth: My life outside pensions.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Alistair Wilson - Head of institutional business, Neptune Asset Management When he's not being Neptune's head of institutional business, Al whiles away the hours in his whites. He hadn't missed a Saturday league game for nearly...

In depth: Notice board - NAPF events and training.(Conference news)
July 6, 2009... NAPF Annual Conference and Exhibition Fit For The Future October 14 16 2009 Manchester Central This is the most important event of the year for everyone involved in workplace pensions, and attracts around 1,000 top industry...

Pensions workout: Intermediate - Credit default swaps - Intermediate level.
July 6, 2009... For many portfolio managers, credit default swap (CDS) contracts are an attractive instrument despite, or perhaps even because of, the credit crisis. Whereas the corporate bond market nearly came to a halt in 2008, CDS trading was less...

On the move: Rowanmoor makes Graves tech boss.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Nick Reeve Rowanmoor Pensions has appointed Robert Graves as head of technical services. Graves has been at the firm since February 2008 when he joined as product development manager. He was previously pensions technical...

On the move: Going places.
July 6, 2009... Thomsons adds two to benefits team Thomsons Online Benefits has hired two staff to its global employee benefit consulting team. Marcus Underhill has been appointed global reward director, while Allen Wu joins as regional reward director for...

On the move: This week on Twitter.
July 6, 2009... The Financial Services Authority's (FSA) retail distribution review (RDR) this week sparked an exciting Twitter debate among IFAs. Steve Martin, a certified financial planner, noted with an air of relief that "nothing in our business will...