IPE's United Kingdom Coverage – Page 261
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News
Ports in a storm over who pays pensions contributions
[16:05 CET 22-01] UK – Trustees behind a pension fund for marine pilots have launched a complex legal case has begun in the UK High Court to determine the definition of an employer for the purpose of funding pension scheme liabilities, and the point at which an employer stops being an employer.
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UK defined benefit pensions pull back deficits
[15:15 CET 12-01] UK – UK corporate pension schemes last year gained approximately 10.6% of the losses suffered during 2008 as figures presented by the Pension Protection Fund suggest defined benefit funds amassed £827.7bn (€922.5bn) in assets by the end of 2009.
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Merging LGPS 'impossible' for governance reasons
[13:00 CET 12-01] UK – The case for merging the administration of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is strong enough to overcome any minor obstacles, however the practicalities of consolidating the investment side would be “difficult if not impossible”, according to a former manager of two LGPS schemes.
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Northern Rock creates separate pension plan for future accrual
[17:00 CET 11-01] UK – Northern Rock is launching a new pension plan for existing active members which offers the same benefits and terms as an existing £367.5m (€408.6m) defined benefit pension plan but then leaves past liabilities with the division known as the ‘bad bank’.
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UK roundup: State Street, MP pensions, Fujitsu, Linklaters, Aero Engine
[15:30 CET 07-01] UK – Preliminary figures from State Street's defined benefit (DB) scheme results survey show an average 15% return, while the MP's pension scheme has appointed a legal adviser. Workers at Fujitsu are organising further strikes over the firm's pension scheme closure, Linklaters is to close its DB ...
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UK pension funds predicted to return 14% in 2009
[16:00 CET 05-01] UK – The average UK pension fund produced an estimated weighted 14% average return on investments in 2009, compared with -13.8% return the previous year, according to figures from BNY Mellon Asset Servicing.
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Call for UK pension rules to be standardised
[16:00 CET 04-01] UK – Rules allowing members of occupational defined contribution (DC) schemes to take benefits of less than £2,000 (€2,245) regardless of other pension savings should be extended to contract-based DC schemes, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
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UK roundup: ONS and Public Sector Pensions Commission
[14:00 CET 21-12] UK – The net investment of self-administered pension funds fell by £7.9bn (€8.9bn) in the third quarter of 2009 to total just £2.8bn, the Office of National Statistics has revealed.
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News
Cadbury completes £500m buy-in with PIC
[16:15 CET 16-12] UK - Trustees of the £2bn (€2.2bn) Cadbury Pension Fund have agreed a buy-in for around £500m of their pensioner liabilities with Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC).
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Berkshire completes first LGPS longevity deal
[16:15 CET 15-12] UK – The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) has completed the first longevity hedging deal for a local government pension scheme (LGPS).
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BA deficit exceeds €4bn as trustee chair steps down
[16:00 CET 14-12] UK – British Airways has announced it has a combined pensions deficit of £3.7bn (€4.1bn) in its two defined benefit (DB) schemes, but it has at least reached a provisional agreement with trustees over its actuarial calculations.
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Ofgem goes ahead with 15yr DB funding period
[16:15 CET 11-12] UK – Ofgem, the UK energy regulator, is to continue with plans to apply a 15-year optional funding period across all energy companies, in a bid to recover the cost of pension deficits from customers.
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UK public sector pension cap is 'scam' - Ros Altmann
UK – Expected savings of around £1bn (€1.1bn) a year on public sector pensions, following the introduction of a cap on taxpayer contributions, is a “scam” according to a pensions expert.
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UK employee contributions outstrip employers
[17:05 CET 09-12] UK – Employee contributions to funded pension schemes reached £42.5bn in 2008, overtaking the rate of employer contributions for the first time in six years.
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Pension funds weakened corporate recovery – Watson Wyatt
[16:20 CET 07-12] UK - Deficits in final salary pension schemes are making it much harder for UK companies to restructure and prepare themselves for an economic recovery, according to research by Watson Wyatt and the UK employers organisation the CBI.
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UK roundup: Warwick University, Bangor University, Lloyds TSB
[15:45 CET 07-12] UK – Warwick University, Bangor University and Lloyds Banking Group are the latest organisations to announce changes to their final salary pension schemes, in a bid to make them more sustainable.
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News
First Quench heads for PPF assessment
[15:30 CET 07-12] UK – The First Quench Pension Scheme is in the process of entering the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) assessment period, following the collapse of the sponsoring employer First Quench Retailing, formerly known as Threshers.
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Ofcom review questions BT pension holidays
[16:40 CET 01-12] UK – Ofcom, the UK regulator of the communications industry, has questioned the role of pension contribution holidays taken by BT in the 1990s, as part of a consultation to assess whether other telecoms firms should now help plug the BT Pension Scheme deficit.
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News
UK firm uses project assets to cut pension deficit
[16:50 CET 27-11] UK – Interserve, a UK services, maintenance and building group, has transferred its stake in a portfolio of 13 Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) to its £400m (€441m) pension scheme to help reduce its funding deficit.
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UK pension funds demand more long-dated bond issuance
[16:30 CET 27-11] UK - Four-fifths of UK pension funds want to see the government issue more long-dated and index-linked gilts as a way of guaranteeing returns. This follows a year where the number of defined benefit (DB) schemes remaining open to new members fell to an all-time low.
