Tag: Evergreen

Milking and Dumping – new paper by the Pensions Institute

31 August 2016 The Pensions Institute was set up as part of the Cass Business School as the first and, as yet, only UK academic research centre to focus exclusively on pensions matters. It’s contributors have published a series of academic research papers, combined with Practitioner Reports – the latter perhaps more accessible to the non-academic. The latest report, authored by Keith Wallace((Keith is President of the Association of Corporate Trustees and Chair of the Legal Advice Panel of the Pensions Advisory Service)) is titled “Milking and Dumping: The Devices Businesses use to Exploit Surpluses and Shed Deficits in Their…

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Where did the deficit come from? – a study in scarlet (ink)

20 January 2015 According to Pension Protection Fund (PPF) data((http://www.pensionprotectionfund.org.uk/Pages/PPF7800.aspx)), the s.179 funding level for the aggregate universe of DB schemes potentially eligible for entry into the PPF fell sharply during 2014. According to their database, the aggregate funding position moved from a small surplus (0.8% at Dec 13) to a significant deficit (-17.7% at Dec 14). So where did all this red ink((Apologies to fans of Sherlock Holmes)) come from? Well … conventional growth assets may not have helped much. Trustees will be familiar with the roll-forward phenomenon on actuarial valuations; that the selected discount rate becomes a sort…

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Do you have quality DC pension scheme governance?

10 February 2014 The Pensions Regulator has followed up its work on the DC Code and DC Regulatory Guidance with their views on how trustees (both for single- and master-trust vehicles) should assess and communicate their compliance with these initiatives. To recap, the DC Code lays out the legal framework for DC trust-based pensions and provides suggestions of practical guidance on how to comply whereas the DC Regulatory Guidance lays out the Regulator’s view on the quality features underpinning their view of good practice. The Regulator has laid out 31 key quality features in areas such as trustee knowledge, training…

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My Trustee Philosophy

15 January 2014 I’m often asked to summarise my top-level thinking on how I approach trusteeship – my trustee philosophy. This question is most often posed with respect to the investment duties involved but – as there is no such thing as a solely investment-focused trustee – the principles involved serve me in the wider exercise of trustee duties. I hope that you find them interesting … please remember you read them here first !

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Inflation and Defined Benefit Pension schemes

31 October 2011 October saw the release of notably high inflation figures – a two year peak for CPI and a twenty year peak for RPI – coinciding with the setting of pension increases for UK defined benefit pension schemes with September year-end. We provided a brief update at the time of release here but here present a more detailed paper on the direct and indirect impacts of inflation on these schemes. Inflation provides a good example of a crucial factor that affects both sides of the DB scheme balance sheet and our response as pension professionals should therefore bear…

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