While many advisers saw an upturn in their pensions business in the 12 months following A-day, some are still sceptical about the benefits of pensions simplification.

Two major players are about to take UK schemes to task over alternative asset holdings, by making them available here for the first time

The government has caved in to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), and stated insurers will now have until July 31 to process pension term assurance (PTA) applications received before December 13, 2006.

Gordon Brown’s decision to scrap advanced corporation tax (ACT) relief on pension schemes a decade ago has fallen back into the spotlight with opposition politicians condemning the move as “sneaky” and “damaging” and industry experts debating whether the move really did kill off final salary pension provision.

The way in which Gordon Brown ignores advice that these measures would undermine pensions funds, his persistent denial of what these papers now confirm, and the sneaky way this bad news release was managed, all pose yet more questions about Gordon Brown’s fitness for the highest office.”
Philip Hammond - Shadow work and pensions secretary

While the last year has created a huge boom in the popularity of self-invested personal pensions (Sipps), the next 12 months will bring with it many challenges for providers, such as the cost of platforms and attracting more mass affluent consumers, according to an exclusive report made available to PM.

The most prestigious pensions and investment industry awards are almost upon us, and excitement and anticipation are reaching fever pitch amongst those providers who took the time and made the effort to enter.

Positive elements of contract and trust-based defined contribution (DC) schemes have been combined to produce SEI’s new bundled solution.

Standard Life Investments (SLI) has unveiled an investment-only fund platform for defined contribution (DC) pension schemes, which has already accumulated more than £1.1bn in assets under administration.

At the height of the boom, house building reached 6.5% of the US’ annual economic output, compared to a long-run average of 4.5%. Although residential construction has fallen as a share of economic output, at 5.25% it still remains relatively high, suggesting that house building has a little further to contract.

BlackRock has launched a one-stop solution for small and medium-sized schemes looking to break into liability-driven investment (LDI), PM can exclusively reveal.

The UK has the highest exposure to equities compared to pension schemes in the rest of Europe, although its allocations have been steadily decreasing.

Perceptions can turn on a pinhead, but the truth changes much more slowly. And boy have we seen those perceptions shift in the past couple of months.

A survey by DC Link has revealed that 40% of people are not taking advantage of pensions contribution matching offered by their employers and are effectively throwing their money down the drain.

A recent paper published by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has concluded that FRS17 numbers alone give an incomplete view of company deficits and that other data should accompany the reporting standard to give investors, trustees and regulators an informed view.

The government has come under fire that personal accounts (PAs) could be mis-sold to older women, and that it must be very careful at providing the right advice so people can choose whether to opt in or out.

The DWP select committee’s recent recommendations to parliament to increase the trivial commutation and pension credit capital regard limits – which stand at £15,000 and £6,000 respectively – have encountered a mixed response from the industry.

• Company salary sacrifice schemes not registered with HMRC by May 1, 2007, could result in employers being fined up to £5,000, according to Truestone Employee Benefits.
• HMRC has announced that it will be mandatory for pension schemes to file certain information electronically from October 16, 2007. This includes an application to register a pension scheme, a registered pension scheme return and an accounting for tax return. Standard Life said it was critical HMRC ensured their systems were robust enough to deal with the increased number of users.
• Hargreaves Lansdown will proceed with an IPO of its shares and has confirmed its intention to list on the London Stock Exchange, pending authorisation. It also announced that turnover increased 35% to £43.3m in the six months to December 31, 2006.
• Epic Investment Advisors has entered into exclusive merger negotiations with Allenbridge Group. Anthony Yadgaroff, group managing director at Allenbridge, said the merger was “attractive” and could lead to developing new areas of growth in the pensions market.

Liability-driven investment (LDI) has become a “herd problem” and is just a “buzz-phrase”, a prominent consultant has told PM, as he announced that covenant-driven investment (CDI) would instead be the way forward.

Legal & General’s new Group Portfolio Plus product has just been introduced to the market, but already there are doubts as to whether it is as innovative as the company claims.

I was very disappointed to read the feature article ‘Sipps made simple’ in the Pensions Management Sipp supplement (March 2007). The article seemed to be written from a misconceived perception that one size fits all and a self-invested personal pension (Sipp) is the only solution for flexible retirement planning.

Is there a pensions issue that’s winding you up or an article you’ve read in PM that’s made your blood boil, or perhaps more positively you think it’s really hit the nail on the head, then do get in touch by writing a letter.

Despite rulings from the High Court and the European Court of Justice, not to mention the parliamentary ombudsman, that successive governments were guilty of maladministration, the government still accepts no responsibility for the 125,000 people who lost some or all of their promised pension when their employer went bust and their final salary pension scheme wound up before April 2005. Indeed, it has said that it is going ahead with its High Court appeal.

Managing agents effectively is something providers can stick their head in the sand over, partly due to its inevitability and partly because it’s a pain in the neck

I read the other day that the London borough where residents are most likely to own a dog is Barking and Dagenham. I mean, how good is that? I also read that a new survey has just found the average British citizen has no idea whatsoever about the tax reliefs that apply to pensions.

Antoinette Odoi talks to Jan Floyd-Douglass about the challenges facing the industry, her role as head of Zurich corporate pensions and bodyflying

Securing members’ benefits, where a sponsoring employer's parent is domiciled in a foreign jurisdiction, can be a tricky business

Investment in property has remained domestically-driven for some time, but to obtain better uncorrelated returns, investors should be looking to Europe for inspiration

The fixed income market has been thrown into debate by the launch of contracts that are measured on three of the most regularly traded credit indices

BPO is gradually taking off, as more providers begin to see the benefits

Outsourcing a life and pensions operation does not mean a provider can avoid responsibility – governance plays an important part in the quality of service a third party offers

Creating a successful oursourcing service is down to responsiveness, innovation, and excelling in customer service. And doing it better than your competitor...

With some high profile failures, as well as successes – it can truly be said that outsourcing has received mixed press over the last few years

Trackers have gone from moments of high exposure within the industry, to moments of obscurity. Here PM takes stock of the current situation

You may have heard of the non-market capitalisation weighted index, but what is it? Julian Harding explores this investment development in more detail

After a disappointing period of underexposure, things could be looking up for the pooled property market in 2007

Wrap platforms are becoming increasingly popular with providers for individuals, but has the time come when they will be rolled out to corporate clients?

To what extent has A-day affected the traditional, and the self-invested, personal pension?

RU64 might mean more paperwork in the short term, but providing the correct advice to a client reaps long-term rewards

UCITS III is here and is accelerating the pace of change in the institutional marketplace

The covenant review is an effective method of understanding the financial status and stability of any company’s pension scheme

Deloitte has poached a key player from Mercer Investment Consulting (Mercer) and appointed Andy Green partner to its pension consulting team.

Morley has secured pension and property expert, Ian Gleeson, to head up its new international multi-manager property services from mid May.

Philip Sellers has left his role as an adviser to Nomura Asset Management, after five years at the company.