Tesco’s pension headache is a real challenge because of the financial strength of the company say experts October 5, 2016 Pension experts warned that Tesco's ballooning pension deficit could cause the supermarket problems when it comes to tricky conversations with the scheme's trustees. The deficit – which doubled to £5.9bn – was higher than anticipated and will likely prompt detailed scrutiny by the trustees, in particular when it comes to next year's triennial valuation. "The ballooning deficit at Tesco is [...]
Experts react to potential changes in pension tax relief October 5, 2016 Hints that the government intends a pension tax shake-up has led to mixed reactions from experts. Chancellor Philip Hammond's parliamentary private secretary, John Glen MP, responded to questions at the Conservative Party Conference on whether the government intended to change pension tax relief. "There needs to be some serious examination about how we can re-balance incentives towards the [...]
European consumers turn their noses up at price comparison websites in favour of brokers. And it’s a trend that isn’t changing soon October 4, 2016 Continental Europe is shunning price comparison websites for sales of motor insurance because brokers have managed to adapt better to the needs of the market unlike their British counterparts. Two-thirds of all UK motor insurance policies are sold through price comparison websites – a medium that has only been around since the turn of the millennium. But according to [...]
Investors could be missing out on thousands by following the advice of the Bank of England’s chief economist October 3, 2016 Property might be the investment of choice for the Bank of England's chief economist but research by a leading investment platform suggests that shares are the best option when saving for retirement. At the end of August, Andy Haldane was lambasted by pension experts for advocating his choice to invest in property rather than in a pension scheme. [...]
Pension deficit rate of rise slows but experts warn this isn’t the end of problems October 3, 2016 The meteoric rise in pension deficits abated during September with aggregate levels stagnating for the first time since the Brexit vote. Deficits have leapt since Spring after asset value growth failed to keep up with the rate at which bond yields have collapsed. Read more: Pension costs pose a material threat to UK plc profitability say [...]
Negotiations over the largest pension deficit in the FTSE 100 could be made worse by an Openreach spin-off October 2, 2016 BT's mammoth pension scheme deficit is threatening to derail Ofcom's plans to make its broadband infrastructure arm Openreach more independent from the telecoms giant. A consultation on the future of Openreach is due to close on Tuesday after attracting over 75,000 responses. Investors and analysts are deeply concerned that separating it from BT could cause significant issues for the group when it comes to [...]
Increased profits on the cards at Tesco but pension headache persists October 2, 2016 Tesco is expected to report on Wednesday that it has grown half-year profits but its steady resurgence could be undermined by a spiralling pension scheme deficit. Analysts expect a rise in underlying sales for the third quarter in a row and half-year profits could be as much as £624m – dwarfing the £354m generated in the same period last year. [...]
Record pension deficits could undermine the financial performance of the UK’s largest listed companies September 29, 2016 The largest listed companies in the UK could have £2bn of their bottom lines wiped out by spiralling pension costs according to data released today. Record low corporate bond yields – which are used to price pension pots for accounting purposes – have driven up liabilities. With asset values failing to keep up the increases [...]
Competition and Markets Authority to investigate price comparison websites September 29, 2016 The UK's competition watchdog is launching a wholesale review into price comparison websites to investigate how they make their money and whether they really do help consumers get the best deals. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced the review this morning – the latest in a long-line of high-profile probes the body has conducted including [...]
BMW faces backlash from unions on pension reforms September 27, 2016 Unions have hit back at BMW over proposals to close its UK defined benefit pension schemes, promising to fight the German motor giant's attempts to "salami-slice" retirement incomes. BMW wrote to 5,000 employees yesterday outlining proposals to close its two final salary pension schemes to future accruals from 1 June 2017. "It is clear that our members will be [...]