Press Releases

While the EU Referendum and the US Presidential elections may have dominated the national headlines in 2016, the Transitional Measure on Technical Provisions (TMPT) was never far from the spotlight in finacial services circles;  from consultations to supervisory statements, through turbulent economic conditions and much-needed recalculations.  And it is against that backdrop that the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has issued for consultation some proposed amendments to Supervisory Statement 6/16 in which it clarifies its expectations for maintaining the calculation of the TMTP.

The inauguration of Trump has led to deficits shrinking to levels not seen since the eve of Brexit. In aggregate terms for UK DB schemes, the two biggest political shocks of last year have cancelled out, like matter and anti-matter colliding and exploding in a ball of light.

An over-valuation of how long people are likely to live is equivalent to continuing to pay everyone’s pension for 4 months after they’ve passed away; companies with 2017 valuations could face bigger cash calls to shore up deficits than necessary. Given low interest rates, this has the potential to tip some schemes into closing.

When faced with choosing how to access their pension saving, releasing equity from property has become a mainstream choice for retirees. A low interest rate environment and product innovation has made equity release more popular 

“Karen brings over 20 years’ experience in product research and development to this exciting role, having worked with insurers, banks and asset managers. Her breadth of knowledge across financial services, both in terms of business models and product issues, means she provides our insurance clients with invaluable advice as they look to adapt to an ever-changing market.

Where and how to set State Pension age (SPa) is a significant issue in social policy. Club Vita is delighted to respond to the Interim Report of the Independent Review of State Pension age.

While the longevity gap between the best and worst off in society narrows, a universal State Pension age should be retained. State Pension age (SPa) is playing catch-up:  Longevity has been rising faster than legislated increases in SPa.

Mark Jaffray, Head of DC Investment Consultancy responds to the FCA consultation into transaction cost disclosure in workplace pensions.

Commenting on the Work and Pensions Select Committee report calling for greater enforcement powers for The Pensions Regulator (TPR), Patrick Bloomfield, Partner at Hymans Robertson, said: “Pushing for recovery plans of less than 10 years for DB schemes is the wrong thing to do. It would force wide scale risk taking tantamount to gambling as well as putting more strain on sponsors who would inevitably be called upon to contribute even more towards deficits. Committing more cash to schemes is unaffordable for many companies. We need healthy sponsors to ensure there’s a good chance of paying benefits to pensioners in full, otherwise we risk more schemes falling into the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) where members lose £45,000 of their benefits on average. 

We are pleased to announce changes to our public sector consulting team. John Wright, Head of Public Sector, will continue to focus on helping clients respond to industry issues and change, as well as having oversight of the development and delivery of its actuarial, investment and benefits services for public sector clients. Barry McKay becomes Head of LGPS Actuarial, working alongside David Walker as Head of LGPS Investment and Ian Colvin as Head of Benefits Consulting.

Our experts give their views on what to expect for the coming year. Including pension policy, the DB outlook, what's likely to top the agenda in DC, the investment outlook and what’s likely to be on the agenda for benefits.

If the Triple Lock is removed state pensions will still need to increase faster than inflation or earnings as we are not saving enough for retirement. Overall savings shortfalls will be far greater than any cost savings from removing the Triple Lock. It has cost the government £1.8-2 billion over seven years which is insignificant compared to the £8 billion per year which will ultimately be saved by the introduction of the new Single Tier