Avid readers of Professional Pensions may have seen an ariticle in the 6th September edition regarding the case of Waddy v Foster Wheeler (yes, THAT Foster Wheeler – just can’t seem to keep out of the pension press can it??). I was asked to comment on the case just as I was rising from a Magistrates’ court sitting so I’m not sure my thoughts were fully cogent at the time!!
Posts Tagged ‘pension’
The time is now…
An article in the Times today (20 Jun 2011) has raised the issue of the development of a two tier occupational pension being provided by companies. Those of us well versed in the machinations of the UK pension industry would probably say ’so what else is new’ but maybe for some readers of this blog, it needs a bit more explanation. So here goes:
You can’t tell me I’m part of the Union
We’ve had some meat on the bones of the Hutton proposals today with a statement from Treasury Minister Danny Alexander too. You can read my earlier thoughts on Hutton in my blog “Hutton Speaks…and Makes Sense” below. But despite this, the knee jerk reaction of the Public Sector unions is, to paraphrase the late Miriam Karlin’s character Paddy, “Everybody Out”
The Untouchables…
In an earlier life I was the Legal Director of the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority, the predecessor body to the current Pension Regulator. One of the issues which took up a considerable amount of management and investigatory time concerned a scam called ‘Pension Liberation’. It worked like this.
Get with the Rhythm…
After a bit of a break to recharge my pension batteries (lounging on a beach works wonders!!) normal service is resumed with a report of recent happenings in the pensionsphere.
I have just got back from a fantastic conference organised by Mallowstreet which was frankly unlike any pension conference I’ve ever been to. I loved the motivational speakers and the drumming session (yes really!!) was amazing once one got over the slightly cultish feel to the rhythmic beat.
A truth universally acknowledged…?
Today’s big story of course is the Government green paper on the future of the basic state pension. Currently one of the lowest in the developed world it stands at a paltry £97.65 a week (assuming you have a full National Insurance record) rising to a minimum income guraranteed top up figure of £132.60 if you have no other income from other sources such as a company pension scheme.
Hutton speaks…and makes sense
We have now had the full report which did not fundamentally differ from the Interim Report issued at the back end of last year. Workers will now have to work to 65, pay higher contributions and the final salary scheme will become a career average scheme, meaning that rather than a final salary figure being used in the pension calculation instead, a salary will be averaged over the working life so generally this will be a lower figure but actually fairer to most workers. The losers will be those who would expect rapid promotion over their working lives.
And the winner is…no one
Once again Europe has spoken and this time it’s the women who will pay – well sort of. The latest diktat from the ECJ has declared that it will no longer be legal for insurance companies to use sex based factors when pricing products whether that be car insurance, life insurance or (and this is the pension bit folks) annuities. I can hear my actuarial friends and colleagues sobbing into their modelling spreadsheets even as I type!
It’s just potty…
Slightly hidden away in the bowels of the Daily Telegraph comment section is a piece about Wedgwood Potteries. Sadly this wonderful British institution has faced financial difficulties in recent years and as a result, the pension scheme has had to go into the Pension Protection Fund in order to be rescued. So far so sadly usual.
But the Wedgwood Scheme was a multi employer scheme and one of the employers was the Wedgwood Museum in Stoke on Trent – completely independent of the pottery company itself but with 5 employees who were members of the main scheme. So the Museum became a participating employer as it was required to be. And this is where the whole things becomes a bit unfortunate.
A is for Apple, B is for Ball….
Now we all know that pensions are difficult. That’s why my clients pay me very reasonable fees to sort it out for them. The National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) have just published their research paper showing that its target audiences don’t understand many of the terms and phrases used by the pension industry and have produced a ‘phrasebook’ to help raise levels of understanding. I don’t know how much they paid for that piece of research but I (and any one else involved in pensions) could have told them that for free!!
Jennie advises large multi-employer schemes as well as smaller single employer arrangements and has wide experience of both Defined Contribution and Defined Benefit schemes. Jennie qualified in 1986 originally as a criminal prosecutor. She sits as a Magistrate in her local justice area and is an Approved Chairman and Deputy Chair of the Bench Training and Development Committee. Jennie was formerly Legal Director of the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority. When her busy practice allows, Jennie likes to indulge her passion for travelling. To consult Jennie on any corporate Pensions matter, please call her on +44 (0)20 7749 2700 or send her an email by clicking below: