Press Releases

The Government is expected to announce a change to the rules for the British Steel Pension in an effort to reduce its liabilities to help Tata Steel find a buyer. The change would allow it to base annual pension increases on the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation measure, which is usually below the Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure currently used by the British Steel Pension.

Hymans Robertson has been appointed to provide actuarial, investment consultancy and administration services to the trustees of the DB scheme of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), the Scottish Government’s economic and community development agency for the Highlands & Islands of Scotland. With 300 staff located from Shetland to Argyll, HIE delivers projects and programmes which drive regional growth through developing businesses and sectors, investing in infrastructure, and strengthening communities. The DB scheme has assets of £80m and 875 members.

Greater regulation of Master Trusts is an absolute necessity. The Master Trust market has grown rapidly, driven by all workers being automatically enrolled into pension schemes. But to date consumers haven’t had the same safety nets as they would get if they were with an insurer.

The Pension Regulator’s (tPR’s) annual statement - which acts as a guide to the trustees and employers of Defined Benefit (DB) pension schemes, particularly those whose triennial valuations fall this year – has underlined the importance of DB schemes understanding and managing cashflow risk for the first time. 

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Pension policy changes will cause 2-3 million more retired workers to live on inadequate incomes by 2060, on top of 12m already forecast

Hymans Robertson, the leading pensions and benefits consultancy, analysed who would benefit from investing in a Lifetime ISA (LISA), the new long-term savings vehicle launched by the Chancellor in this week’s Budget.

If everyone under 40 switches to a Lifetime ISA, the Treasury will net £1bn per year

Hymans Robertson, expects to see significant growth in the number of employers providing long-term savings guidance to employees as a result of the Financial Advice Markets Review (FAMR).

Budget 2016 - predictions and comments  - ‘No changes to pensions tax relief’ in Budget means a horrendously complex system of annual and lifetime allowances will hit 2% of taxpayers. A ‘tax on jobs’ could replace sweeping changes to pensions tax relief netting £13.8bn for Treasury.

Those who currently face the biggest savings shortfalls in retirement are the ‘squeezed middle’ of 40% tax payers (see table 1 below). This is based on an analysis of over half a million people saving into Defined Contribution (DC) pension schemes through Hymans Robertson’s Guided Outcomes™ platform. A move to a flat rate of pensions tax relief, a move being considered by the Chancellor, will penalise these middle class savers discouraging them from putting aside sufficient money for retirement.