These days defined benefit schemes buy annuities as part of a bulk exercise to manage liabilities and ultimately wind-up the scheme. However, in the past many schemes bought annuities in the name of the trustee with different insurers as...
New regulations (with accompanying regulatory guidance from TPR) came into force on 30 November introducing significant changes to the statutory transfer regime, to empower trustees to halt suspicious transfers. Whilst administration is...
As Sarah Henderson mentioned in her recent blog, “Why the rules are just the beginning…”, one of the key steps in building a benefit specification for a bulk annuity policy is adding in admin practice. So why is admin practice so...
Following on from my August 2021 blog post on the DWP’s plans to introduce simpler annual benefit statements, we have now had some time to digest the DWP’s response in October to its consultation and the finalised Regulations, which...
Earlier this year the Pension Schemes Act 2021 provided the long awaited statutory framework for Collective Money Purchase (“CMP”) schemes, commonly referred to as Collective Defined Contribution (or “CDC”) in the UK. This was...
Sarah Henderson’s blog last month, “Why the rules are just the beginning…”, looked at steps to building a benefits specification for a bulk annuity policy. One of the steps was crystallising trustee discretions. Let’s look at...
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) consulted earlier this year on its proposed new single code of practice (the Code). The Code is to combine 10 of TPR’s existing 15 codes of practice into an updated and online format, and with content that...
The benefit specification from start to finish When securing benefits through a bulk annuity policy with an insurer, it’s important to ensure the benefits are carefully documented in your benefit specification. Why? Because, otherwise,...
For many occupational pension schemes there is an interplay between the scheme’s benefit structure and gender that continues to necessitate the inclusion of a member’s gender on their scheme record. As such, schemes should ensure they...
As defined benefit schemes mature, de-risk and edge ever closer to buy-out and wind up, companies and trustees are increasingly focusing on different types of risk exposure. One risk they may be looking at more closely is the risk which...
