Pension System – Page 302
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NewsUK roundup: default retirement, Local Government Pension Scheme
UK – The government today confirmed its plans to abolish the default retirement age, allowing workers to continue in their position beyond 65.
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NewsNew longevity model could entail 2% provision increase, Hewitt warns
NETHERLANDS – The average Dutch pension fund will have to make an additional 2% financial provision if the Actuarial Society (AG) endorses a new longevity model currently in development, Hewitt Associates has warned.
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NewsFunding deficit for UK DB schemes jumps to £21.8bn
UK – Funding for final salary pension schemes took a turn for the worse last month, according to the Pension Protection Fund (PPF).
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NewsSwitching UK pension indexation to CPI may add complexity, experts warn
UK – Government plans to change the indexation of private sector defined benefit (DB) occupational pensions from Retail Price Inflation (RPI) to Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) in line with changes to public sector pensions could cause even more complexity to pensions.
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NewsSmiths Group sets up escrow account for pension deficit
UK – Smiths Group, the global technology company, has reached an agreement with the trustees of its two UK pension schemes to recover the combined deficit of £655m (€788m) over the next decade.
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NewsUK public sector pensions akin to 'unstable Ponzi' scheme
UK – The existing approach to UK public sector pensions has been compared to an "unstable Ponzi scheme" in an independent report from the Public Sector Pensions Commission.
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NewsUK roundup: ONS, BBC, pension de-risking
UK – A third of UK pensioners rely solely on the state pension in retirement, according to figures from the Office of National Statistics, while the BBC has defended proposed changes to its defined benefit (DB) scheme.
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NewsBA completes £1.3bn buy-in with Rothesay Life
UK – British Airways has completed a £1.3bn (€1.57bn) pension buy-in transaction with Rothesay Life that will cover approximately 20% of the pensioner liabilities of its Airways Pension Scheme (APS).
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Country Report
Italy: Fondo Cometa: Activist investor
Fondo Cometa, Italy’s largest pension fund with €5.2bn in assets, is discussing terms to implement its new activist investment strategy for domestic equities. Carlo Svaluto Moreolo reports
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FeaturesLessons from Canada
Gail Moss assesses the challenges Canada is facing in the area of workplace pensions
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Country ReportItaly: Caution over reform
The proposal for a €1bn government fund investing in SMEs has re-ignited the debate on pension fund investment limits. Carlo Svaluto Moreolo finds pension fund representatives cautious, but ready to argue the case for reform
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Features
ING OFE: Investing with your hands tied
Nina Röhrbein spoke with Grzegorz Chlopek (pictured), CIO and vice-president of ING PTE, Poland’s second biggest pension fund (with assets of €11.4bn) about the challenge of operating as a large institutional investor in a highly regulated market
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Country Report
Italy: Restrictions, restrictions
When it comes to asset allocation, Italian pension funds remain more restricted than their counterparts in the west of Europe due to the limits of legislation, writes Nina Röhrbein. Italian funds also often have their hands tied by employees who make individual investment choices from a pool of guaranteed and balanced lines the funds are obliged to offer – that is, if they even join a pension fund
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Country Report
Italy: Political machinations
As sovereign debt levels rise, and the cost of borrowing increases, Maria Teresa Cometto reports on the effects of the pension sector on Italian public finances and the political willingness to make the necessary changes
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News
BBC to close scheme to new members as deficit hits £2bn
UK – The BBC has initiated a three month consultation on changes to its £8.23bn (€10.16bn) defined benefit (DB) pension scheme following a deficit increase to around £2bn in 2009 from £470m in 2008.
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News
BT Pension scheme cut deficit by £1.4bn last year
UK - The underfunded BT Pension Scheme (BTPS) has managed to reduce its deficit by 16% following strong returns in 2009.
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News
NAPF 'foundation' pension could limit means-testing, but at a cost
UK – Introducing a 'foundation' pension combining the current Basic State Pension (BSP) and the State Second Pension (S2P) could reduce the number of people on means-tested pension benefits to 25% by 2050, according to research by the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI).
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News
UK think tank calls for auto-enrolment into ISAs
UK – Pensions and individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) should be brought closer together through tax harmonisation and auto-enrolment into ISAs in an effort to boost long-term savings in the UK, a report from the Centre for Policy Studies has argued.
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Country ReportSwitzerland: Funding questions
Barbara Ottawa assesses the decision of the Swiss authorities not to force public funds to move to full funding over the coming decades
