The time has come for a war on default funds, a managing director of an asset management firm has declared.

James Purnell, minister for pensions reform, has outlined his support for encouraging young people to save, but in so doing failed to answer lingering doubts over the state pension reform.

UK companies remain committed to providing employee pensions despite the cost, according to research from the CBI.

A radical change of the pensions system, that can plug all the significant gaps in cover, is what is really needed if we are to create a long-term pensions solution for today and the future, says David Laws

The life and pensions industry is losing billions of pounds through policies being cancelled early, according to a KPMG survey. The firm estimates up to £4bn was lost in 2004, and says the value of new business being written is now eclipsed by the value of the business being lost. The majority of the respondents (which included life and pensions companies and banks) said rates of product persistency had worsened across every major product group over the last three years.

Independent financial advisers (IFAs) and wealth managers need to work together as partners to provide the right investment solutions in the high net worth (HNW) market.

New research states disgruntled mass affluent individuals are ready to move £500bn in pension assets, due to dissatisfaction with the pensions industry.

The government’s recent hints about strictly limiting alternative secured pension (ASP) to a minority of religious believers who object to annuities, has been met with a fierce reaction from Hargreaves Lansdown.

With the growth of the Sipp market continuing apace, Scottish Equitable has entered an area where there has been much talk and little action with the launch of a group Sipp contract.

Friends Provident has declared itself to be the latest entrant into the wrap market with the announcement of a deal with wrap solution provider, Bravura.

Abbey National has sold its small self-administered scheme (SSAS) business to the newly formed Rowanmoor Group for an undisclosed sum.

With statistics such as one in five 18-34 year olds have never thought about pensions^* eternally buzzing around news articles, it is clear that the industry and the government need a jolt about the need to save for retirement.

Auto-enrolment is a way of automatically including employees in a pension scheme and giving them the option to opt out if they do not want to join. As it admits in its recent white paper, the government sees auto-enrolment as the way to increase member participation in pension schemes to tackle undersaving, which is itself caused by “inertia and lack of willpower”.

I have just heard the news that a Geordie woman who suffered a stroke has woken up in a hospital speaking with a Jamaican accent. Not only has her distinctive north-east twang disappeared, but she has never been to Jamaica. According to an expert interviewed on the radio, the woman is likely to be suffering from ‘foreign accent syndrome’ – not that you would have to be much of an expert to work that out.

Now that the World Cup is over, isn’t it about time that you got round to more important items? After all, you’ve been promising yourself that you would enter the PM Scheme Awards 2006 this year, because you’re just as good as those other companies that won last year, etc. Well, unlike watching the guys on the telly recently, you really don’t have any excuse not to do it.

For those who haven’t yet entered the Pensions Management Technology, Administration and Service Awards 2006, it is now too late to get your entry in to be judged.

The trend in buying over-the-counter derivatives is growing. Pension funds must understand and appreciate the benefits and the associated risks of these instruments, writes Nick Horsfall

The Pension Regulator’s prominence has been in the field of DB schemes, yet their focus on DC schemes has been just as sharp. John Ashcroft outlines the regulator’s approach to reducing risks to DC scheme members

It was with a sense of considerable disbelief that I read Colette Dunn’s Sharp End column on wraps in last month’s PM. While I perhaps should have expected the views of the life and pensions sector to be starkly at odds with the IFA sector (some things never change), I just cannot accept the conclusion of the piece, in which Ms Dunn claims that the winners in the wrap market will be the life companies.

The age discrimination rules coming into effect on October 1 are causing problems in the industry, with one firm calling for a general exemption for pension schemes from the regulations, and another taking the government to court over the mandatory retirement age.

In the first survey since A-day, it is clear income drawdown has benefited greatly from changes in regulations, so providers will need to be on their toes if they want to win greater numbers of clients, says Ruth Emery

A-day changes to drawdown products will offer greater accessibility for more people than ever before, as well as flexible choices for those approaching retirement, says Rachel Shaw

One year after the Pensions Regulator was placed in office, Helen Parrott asks if it has taken a more proactive approach than its predecessor

It is easy to believe the regulator has received an undeserved reputation, but, say James Kiernan and Joel Wheeler, the regulator has had an adverse effect on many viable private equity deals

John Lawson answers this month’s questions (see page 12) on the lifetime allowance and inheritance tax on pension benefits for those who wish to pass on pension assets to their children

Matthew Craig, head of editorial, online pension products, Pensions Management: Are pensions, including self-invested personal pensions (Sipps), still a core financial planning tool or product in the high net worth (HNW) market?

Opening the door to multi-asset class investing could help the current funding crisis, which is not a short-term liquidity problem but a long-term investment return problem, says Guy Fraser-Sampson

The world of the pension fund service provision is likely to change a great deal, but despite this, says Alasdair Reid, we can still make some reasonable guesses about the future

The questions

1. Is there a problem or potential problem in that Sipps are not currently regulated and regulation will not come until April 2007?
   
   
2. Do you anticipate that next year’s regulation will change the industry in any way (for example, consolidation, non-regulated providers unable to meet the regulation requirements)?
   
   
3. How will personal pension regulation affect consumers? Will it boost personal pensions’ popularity as consumers feel they can trust the industry and the products more?
   
   
4. Wat are the implications of regulation on advisers (for example, if the recommended firm is unable to meet the regulation, charges to cover costs of operating the Sipp post regulation)?

I welcome the proposals for regulating all personal pensions, including self-invested personal pensions (Sipps). Regulation will of course bring challenges, and the industry needs to be prepared, but it will create a level playing field between different Sipp provider firms. Be they directly regulated, those who operate through a third-party or unregulated providers, the consumer needs to know that all Sipp providers are required to operate by the same standards. They also need to know exactly what is involved when advice is sought from financial advisers on acquiring rights under a personal pension.

Increasing life expectancy is a key issue for many companies that operate defined benefit pension (DB) schemes. There has been evidence in recent years that life expectancy in the UK has been improving much more rapidly than has previously been allowed for. This has been one of the key factors that have led to large pension deficits developing – and persisting – in the UK in the past few years.

This month, Jason Shaw looks at two determinations dealing with the internal dispute resolution procedure and the period over which pension overpayments should be recovered

The take up of the open market option has slowed since its inception, but rising costs to service providers are running a risk of killing-off the scheme before all the advantages to consumers are realised

Bruce McNess has joined Bestrustees following his retirement from a 17 year professional trustee career at Law Debenture. Prior to Law Debenture, he spent 10 years with Reed, where he was a pension fund investment manager.

Paul Thornton has joined Gazelle, an independent FSA-regulated specialist advisory firm as managing director of its pensions advisory business.

Carol Perry, former head of pensions at the House of Commons, has been appointed as a director of Independent Trustee Services.

HSBC Actuaries and Consultants has appointed Gordon Justham to lead its Birmingham office.