26 September 2012 On 23rd July 2012, Professor John Kay published the final report on his independent review examining the UK equity markets and the impact of investment on long-term corporate performance and governance.
25 September 2012 The Pension Protection Fund has today announced that it estimates the pension protection levy for 2013/14 is expected to raise £630m. This is the same level as is now expected to be collected for 2012/13 (itself £80m higher than the first estimate produced in 2011).
19 September 2012 The Office for National Statistics has announced that the National Statistician will shortly be consulting (from 8 October to 30 November 2012) on updating the calculation methodology for the Retail Price Inflation index. This product is used as a key reference index for UK index-linked securities and derivatives as well as being the reference for some benefit increases in defined benefit pensions entitlement.
19 September 2012 On 6 September, the Pensions Regulator published a press release urging trustees and scheme administrators to take action to get beneficiary records in order in time for the regulator’s end-2012 deadline. The regulator originally set targets in 2010 for compliance in accuracy of “common” data items: for instance name, address, DOB and NI numbers. Their aim was for 95% of data to be in place and accurate for data records prior to June 2010 and full 100% accuracy for data subsequent to this. It is self evident that data integrity is vital for contact with beneficiaries and…
13 September 2012 The Department of Work and Pensions have published a consultation document on updating the auto enrolment thresholds for the 2013/2014 tax year. The DWP continues to work with three principles that were identified as part of the previous year deliberation: i) bringing the right people into scope, ii) finding the right minimum level of saving and iii) balancing costs and benefits for individuals and employers. The DWP’s provisional proposal updates the threshold levels and, for operational payroll simplicity, aligns these with existing tax and National Insurance thresholds.
13 September 2012 The Pension Protection Fund produces a monthly index update (this month’s release has data taken as at end-August 2012) of the estimated funding position of the defined benefit schemes which would be potentially eligible for entry into the Fund. Total scheme deficits fell very slightly during the month, from £283.0bn as at end July to £280.3bn at end August with a corresponding small increase in s179 funding ratio to 79.1% from 78.9%. A full report is provided by the PPF at this external page
