United Kingdom: Pensions and Investment News and Analysis
Latest news and analysis of pensions, asset management, regulation and trends in the United Kingdom from our award-winning journalists.
Investors call on Rishi Sunak to not backtrack on climate change
IIGCC, PRI and UKSIF, among others, expressed concern with the prime minister’s proposals to ‘backtrack on vital policy measures that support the UK’s transition to net zero’
FCA set to kick off review of private market valuations
IOSCO recently highlighted valuations as a vulnerability for the private sector
Institute highlights risks for DB funds in ‘productive finance’ investing
EDHEC Infrastructure & Private Assets Research Institute recommends The Pensions Regulator set up best practice rules
Country Report – Pensions in UK (May 2023)
UK pensions are at a crucial juncture. The UK Parliament’s inquiry into the LDI crisis of September 2022 shed some light on its causes, but the debate on the role of LDI is alive and well. Meanwhile, regulators including The Pensions Regulator and the Financial Conduct Authority have advised pension schemes on how to make LDI strategies more resilient to shocks.
PRA launches consultation on Solvency II reforms
Proposed reforms are expected to improve insurers’ investment flexibility by enabling broader and quicker investments in their matching adjustment portfolios
Scotland’s Falkirk and Lothian pension funds merger talk ceased
The City of Edinburgh’s Council Pension Committee will review merger options in two years’ time
UK buyout market to grow to £60bn per year, say pension professionals
The SPP expects schemes to focus on resilience, against rising interest rates, defaults and longevity
The People’s Partnership prepares to reform workplace proposition
It will start to price at a scheme level and has already started to reform its bulk transfer capabilities with a new specialist team
NEST ethnicity and gender pay gap figures show room for progress
The median gender pay gap rose to 11% and ethnicity pay gap rose to 18%.
Value of UK defined benefit schemes falls by £626bn in 2023
ONS data indicates that the total value of DB pension schemes decreased from over £2trn at the start of 2022 to less than £1.4trn by the end of March
FCLTGlobal calls for fundamental shift in remuneration structures
Total shareholder return is the most common metric that shareholders employ to align interests, but it is often short term-oriented
Imerys Pension Scheme appoints Aon as fiduciary manager
Aon will provide implementation services alongside expert investment advice, including journey planning, to help scheme trustees make better decisions
UK asset management regulator unveils diversity and inclusion measures
Most of the requirements, including setting targets, would only apply to the largest firms
BT Pension Scheme invests in Federated Hermes innovation fund
The growth focused programme complements the thematic Horizon private equity strategy that BTPS co-founded with Federated Hermes
Northern Bank Pension Scheme secures benefits of nearly 2K members
The transaction also involved the successful transfer of an illiquid asset from the pension scheme
Smart Pension seeds new split voting low carbon fund with £550m
New fund is first using service unveiled by AMX and DWS last year
Viewpoint: The Thames Water failure was foreseeable
The Thames Water failure was foreseeable
UK financier pulls plug on commercial pension consolidator
Edi Truell blames decision about Pension SuperFund on regulatory environment
Investor group rejects basis for UK government delay of net zero policies
‘Staying the course not incompatible with addressing immediate cost of living concerns’
Cable and Wireless Superannuation Fund complete £340m buy-in deal
The transaction marks the fund’s third and final deal with Legal & General
Obituary: Patrick Bloomfield
Patrick was a leading figure in the pensions industry for over 25 years
NBIM weighs best use of new TNFD framework in ownership, portfolio work
UK call for government to make TNFD compulsory; UKSIF says ISSB should introduce disclosure standards for biodiversity, drawing on taskforce’s framework
M&G returns to UK bulk annuity market
The buy-in for M&G’s own pension fund secures the benefits of 1,414 pensioners and deferred members
UK automatic enrolment extension bill granted Royal Assent
It will ‘dramatically improve financial resilience in retirement for young people, women and lower earners,’ says DWP
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