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The Government has confirmed the following figures, relating to automatic enrolment obligations, for the 2017/18 tax year: £10,000 for the automatic enrolment earnings trigger, unchanged from 2016/17, £5,876 for the lower limit of the qualifying earnings band, equal to the National Insurance Lower Earnings Limit, and £45,000 for the upper limit of the qualifying earnings […]

The Government is consulting on: the changes contained in the draft Occupational Pension Schemes and Social Security (Schemes that were Contracted-out and Graduated Retirement Benefit) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2017, secondary legislation which has been introduced in the past where the DWP committed to review the provisions and a new methodology for equalising pensions for the […]

Summary The Defined Benefit (DB) Taskforce has released its interim report.  Its key findings are: DB schemes matter to the economy – £1.5 trillion invested through DB schemes supports the UK economy through investment in businesses and infrastructure and by providing income for pensioners that turns into consumer spending; schemes’ funding deficits have been growing […]

The Government has announced that plans for creating a secondary annuity market with effect from April 2017, have been scrapped.  Such a market would have allowed individuals who have bought annuities under Defined Contribution schemes to sell those annuities, either back to the insurance company that issued them or to a third party.  However, the […]

Summary John Cridland has published his interim report on the review of State Pension Age (SPA).  The scope of the review is limited to those reaching SPA after April 2028. Amongst other issues, the review considers the question of whether a universal SPA remains appropriate, or whether some groups should be permitted to draw their […]

The PPF has announced that it expects the 2017/18 levy to total £615 million.  This is the same as the original estimate for 2016/17, although the PPF expects individual schemes to see changes to the amount of their levy invoice.  Most schemes are likely to see an increase unless mitigation is put in place – […]

On 5 September HMRC announced a further extension to the period during which companies with defined benefit pension schemes may continue to operate the existing regime for recovery of VAT on scheme costs (under which the company may reclaim 30% of the VAT charged on investment management fees).  HMRC had previously extended the period to […]

On 3 August the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England voted unanimously to reduce base rate to 0.25% per annum and, by a majority, to extend the Bank’s asset purchases (“Quantitative Easing”) by £70 billion to £445 billion. The markets’ response was a further weakening of Sterling and falls in Gilt yields – […]

Summary On 23 June the UK people voted to leave the European Union and this has had a significant impact on markets, particularly: Gilt yields and the expected path of future interest rates, expected inflation, the value of Sterling and expected economic growth. Potential implications Gilt yields have fallen materially since the vote, leading to […]

The Pensions Regulator issued its annual funding statement for defined benefit schemes on 13 May 2016.  This sets out the Regulator’s views on acceptable approaches to the valuation process for schemes with valuation dates between 22 September 2015 and 21 September 2016.  The statement was accompanied by analysis of how these schemes might be affected. […]