Scots will go to the polls in 2014 on the question of independence. I confess I am not neutral in the debate being a Scot living in London (but don’t however have a vote!) but it did get me thinking about what a “yes” would mean for UK pension schemes, and in particular those defined benefit schemes using asset-backed contribution structures as part of their funding arrangements. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Investment’ Category
Scottish Limited Partnerships and pension schemes: Brave hearts needed for 2014?
Thursday, 16 May 2013DC pension investments: whose risk?
Thursday, 28 February 2013Much has been – and will continue to be – written about poor investment performance in money purchase (defined contribution/DC) pension schemes. In this context I am referring to poor performance relative to a benchmark rather than crashes in financial markets at large for which only politicians can fairly be blamed.
So who bears the legal responsibility for sub-standard performance – the scheme member? Trustees? The employer? The professionals such as the investment adviser or manager?
Longevity swaps for pension schemes: playing the long game
Friday, 5 October 2012I’m often asked what I see as the key trends in the pensions industry over the next few years. Predicting the future usually ends in tears (I should know, I took out a fixed rate mortgage at 5.5% in 2008!) but one development that I think is here to stay is longevity swaps. There’s of course been a number of high profile deals for pension schemes over the last couple of years (many of which incidentally Allen & Overy was involved in) but hardly a deluge, so why my prediction? (more…)
The rise of the CIF: common investment funds for pension schemes go into the derivatives arena
Monday, 29 November 2010As regular readers of Pensions Talk may remember, I spend a good deal of my time advising banks and pension scheme trustees on entering into ISDA derivative contracts. Over the last couple of months a new topic has come onto my agenda, namely common investment funds set up by pension schemes which are entering into derivative contracts.
Pension scheme investments: looking through pooled funds to check for employer-related investments
Friday, 3 September 2010The rules on pension scheme employer-related investments (ERI) are changing. The DWP announced yesterday (2 September) that it has laid regulations before Parliament amending the 2005 Investment Regulations so that, from 23 September, pension scheme investments in certain pooled funds are no longer excluded from the 5% limit on employer-related investments. So what will this mean for trustees?
