DB transfer values rose to record highs in August 2019, while the number of members requesting a transfer value continues to increase, according to XPS Transfer Watch. XPS Pensions Group’s ‘Transfer Value Index’ jumped sharply to an all-time high of £258,200 on 21 August 2019; up from £247,400 at the end of July 2019. The […]
Archive | Pensions
Latest comment and news on current trends and articles relating to final salary schemes (other wise known as defined benefit schemes) with a focus on what is most relevant to expats in China
UK Final Salary Pensions Under Threat from Erosion
The UK House of Lords will soon consider scrapping final salary pension boosting measure The Lords Economic Affairs Committee has launched an inquiry into whether the retail price index (RPI) should be scrapped as a measure of inflation, a move which would make a huge dent in defined benefit scheme pensions. In 2010 the government […]
British Airways Final Salary Pension Closed
UK airline British Airways closes its Final Salary Scheme due to a long over due admittance that is un-affordable. British Airways has announced plans to close the larger of its two final salary pension schemes, saying the change would help fund investment. On the 7th September 2017 the airline unveiled plans to address the “significant […]
Final Salary Scheme Update
Final Salary Pension Scheme Update Hymans Robertson one of the largest institutions or so called Administrators who provide and manage these schemes for many large companies have recently published some findings from research Their research results raised some areas that should be higher on trustee’s agendas: Managing cashflows: whilst 57% of FTSE350 DB (defined benefit) […]
UK Pension Deficit Latest
The UK Pension Deficit is still big news despite not appearing in any Daily Mail headlines this year! The estimated size of the deficit is widely understood to be greater than £500bn. The combined final salary pension deficit of the UK’s 350 largest listed companies had more than trebled to reach £137bn in 2016 A […]
Transfer Values Up Slightly
Transfer values climb slightly from lows in late December A fortnight ago The Pensions Regulator said around 80,000 transfers out of DB pension schemes were made in the last year. It stated: “For the period of 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017 defined benefit pension schemes have, in total, reported 67,700 transfers out […]
UK Government threatens to remove index linking on final salary schemes
Defined – May be not so Defined in the Future! Unbelievably but conversely believable! – The UK government have released a green paper that puts forward the notion that soon struggling companies will be allowed to remove so-called ‘gold plating’ or index linking. The fact that these pensions were required to keep up with inflation […]
Defined Benefit ‘DB’ Pension Schemes
Please click on the PDF article below – for a very interesting article published by The Financial Times 25th January 2017 It mentions what is going on in the UK right now and how sentiment is rapidly changing. Somewhat amusingly it also features a comment by Baroness Altmann – the former UK pensions minister as […]