Jack Jones on the latest from the regulator on recovery plan flexibility

Jack Jones looks at the Association of Consulting Actuaries' research on pension arrangements for smaller employers.

The government risks damaging the UK economy by refusing to give businesses more flexibility on how they calculate scheme deficits, warns the National Association of Pension Funds.

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority has launched an impact assessment on European Commission plans to overhaul the Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision directive.

Schemes should turn to inflation-linked assets such as long-lease property and mature infrastructure to cope with an insufficient supply of index-linked gilts, say consultants.

Government plans to consolidate small pension pots are "impractical" and risk "damaging retirement savings, a broad coalition of organisations argues.

Employers expect increases in the typical retirement age to outpace the rise in the state pension age, according to research from the Association of Consulting Actuaries.

The Pensions Administration Standards Association has launched an accreditation process in a bid to improve standards in the industry.

The European Commission's overhaul of its pensions directive is rushed, counterproductive and borrows too heavily from Solvency II, says a key member of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority.

The Pensions Regulator has reiterated its stance that most firms currently agreeing funding valuations will not need to significantly increase deficit recovery contributions.