Hope William-Smith
Follow Hope William-Smith
Articles by Hope William-Smith
Tender Watch: Border to Coast selects consultant; Nottinghamshire pension board tenders for adviser
Professional Pensions rounds up some of the latest tender awards from across the industry.
AE set-up lulling savers away from crucial pension contribution opportunities
The government should encourage people to save more into pensions after life stages such as when children leave home and after mortgages and student loans are paid off, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) says.
BlackRock launches private debt fund for pension schemes
BlackRock has launched a private debt fund specifically designed for UK pension schemes to access a variety of global private debt market exposures via a single strategy.
Pension savers pushing for ethnicity pay gap reporting
More than half of savers expect the companies in their pension to publish ethnicity pay gap reports, PensionBee research finds.
Willis Towers Watson launches private and public co-venture equity investment group; 'New style' passive or beta offering planned
Willis Towers Watson (WTW) has brought together its public and private equity investment research teams into a joint working group.
Emma Douglas departs LGIM for Aviva
Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) has confirmed its head of defined contribution (DC) Emma Douglas has left the business.
Shying from social
Focus has shifted to the ‘social’ part of ESG, says Hope William-Smith, but this has its own challenges for trustees.
PP Monthly Digest: April 2021
Here it is, our monthly digest of the most important pension articles Professional Pensions has written and published over the last month, along with some contextual notes.
Fears linger over TPR contribution notice powers as DWP consultation closes
The rationale used to ultimately assess whether certain contribution notices can be issued needs further fine tuning, leading industry associations say.
GLIL Infrastructure and Arcus acquire Smart Meter Assets
GLIL Infrastructure has partnered with London-based Arcus Infrastructure Partners to purchase energy infrastructure provider Smart Meter Assets 1 (SMA).
PIC launches ESG podcast; Baroness Wheatcroft, Schroders and UBS execs among first guests
Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) has launched a podcast series which will focus on ESG and the role of pensions through a social purpose lens.
Octopus Renewables leverages Nest investment and acquires biomass plants
Octopus Renewables has acquired two operational UK biomass power plants in one of the largest domestic deals of its kind.
Exclusive: BlackRock launches world ESG insights equity fund
BlackRock has launched a fund designed to simplify ESG investing through the focus on factors demonstrating materiality.
Pension funds urged to better consider financial impact of fiduciary manager decisions
The financial impact of fiduciary management (FM) decisions on pension funding positions means funds need a better understanding of how knock-on impacts appear, Barnett Waddingham warns.
Buck launches metrics-focused ESG dashboard for schemes
Buck has announced the launch of an ESG dashboard for pension schemes as a tool for meeting Pension Schemes Act compliance requirements set out in the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations.
LCP: DC cannot bridge the gap DB will leave; men to feel the pinch
It will take too long to save into defined contribution (DC) pensions to keep retirement savings steady and offset the loss of defined benefit (DB) income, according to Lane Clark & Peacock (LCP).
Industry called to fix shortfall on diversity data collection
There are five steps crucial for finance firms and organisations to implement in order to enhance their diversity data collection, according to EY, LGBT Great, the Diversity Project and Nicsa.
Five stories you may have missed this week
This week’s top stories included the launch of a new sole trustee firm, and the grilling of The Pension Regulator’s interim chair over conflict of interest concerns.
Industry lambasts normal minimum pensions age change as final consultation closes
The industry has criticised the government’s planned increase of the normal minimum pension age (NMPA) ahead of the close of HM Treasury’s consultation on its confirmation tomorrow.
Hymans Robertson launches LGPS learning academy for boards
Hymans Robertson is launching an online learning academy for Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) committees and pension boards to undertake general training.
Scheme member 'voting' creates dangerous illusion, PTL warns
The industry needs to proceed with caution when giving members’ the illusion they have voting rights on the shares in their pension scheme, PTL says.
ESG Watch: Warning to pension schemes; MSCI's call to asset managers; Russell Investments outlines 2050 net-zero goal
Professional Pensions rounds up some of the latest ESG and climate news from across the industry.
Pension indolence bottlenecking employees and blocking next generation of talent
Companies that do not provide appropriately for their employees’ retirement are “storing up a potential staffing crisis”, according to Burness Paull.
Nest bulks out portfolio with mega infrastructure deals
Nest has announced two infrastructure partnerships which will see the asset class make up 5% of its total portfolio.
Exclusive: Trustees trapped by base level analysis choosing fiduciary managers
The likelihood of trustees making incorrect decisions when choosing a fiduciary manager due to rudimentary performance metrics remains probable, EY says.
The pensions industry in one word: What you said…
Professional Pensions asked its readers to describe the current state of the pensions industry in one word this week, eliciting a mix of predominantly gloomy adjectives.
Five stories you may have missed this week
This week’s top stories included more details of PensionBee’s initial public offering and Just Group’s criticism of the effects of freezing the money purchase annual allowance.
ACA calls for tax changes to be 'realistic, manageable and proportionate' for schemes
The Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA) has called for sensible initiatives to simplify the processes of the pensions tax system.
Calls for Online Safety Bill to crackdown on scams grow louder
Quilter has called upon the government to take action to clamp down on the dramatic rise in investment scams over the past year by including these within the scope of the forthcoming Online Safety Bill.
CMI: Deaths continue below normal levels
Mortality levels over the past four weeks in England and Wales have been below normal levels for the time of year, according to the Continuous Mortality Investigation (CMI).
Broadstone acquires Quattro Pensions
Broadstone Group has acquired Midlands-based administration provider Quattro Pensions in a bid to boost its growth in the occupational pension schemes market.
Pensions Dashboard Programme begins hunt for digital architecture suppliers
The Pensions Dashboard Programme (PDP) has issued an invitation to tender for digital architecture suppliers to design and implement the ecosystem that will allow dashboards to work.
PensionBee draws 12,000 customer sign-ups for IPO with estimated market cap of £348m
Around 12,000 PensionBee users have registered for shares in the company after it confirmed its initial public offering (IPO) would comprise an offer to both institutional investors and eligible customers.
Clearer DB guidelines on advice versus guidance needed, industry says
Guidelines on what is and is not viewed as defined benefit (DB) trustees providing members with regulated advice need to be clearer, respondents to a Professional Pensions survey say.
BT, Ford and M&S schemes to proceed with judicial review over RPI reform
The trustees of the BT Pension Scheme, Ford Pension Schemes, and the Marks and Spencer Pension Scheme have confirmed they will seek a judicial review of the decision to replace the Retail Prices Index (RPI) from 2030.
Five stories you may have missed this week
This week’s top stories included Isio’s first financial results, while the Association of British Insurers insured 191 members’ benefits in a £26m buy-in with Aviva.
Isio records £41.2m revenue in first seven months
Isio, the former pensions advisory arm of KPMG, has recorded revenues of £41.2m in its first seven months as a standalone business.
TPR climate strategy targets trustee regulatory compliance
Guidance to help trustees comply with climate disclosure rules will also call on them to “act now” to protect pension savers from climate risk, The Pensions Regulator (TPR) says.
Tech personalisation can drive enhancements in pensions, PTL says
The pensions industry should “take advantage of our increasingly connected society” to drive enhancement in pensions, PTL says.
Barnett Waddingham reports £7bn year for fiduciary management services
Barnett Waddingham’s fiduciary management advisory service has seen a significant boost in client numbers and assets under management (AUM) in the last 12 months.
USS responds to employer questions over valuation assumption
The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) trustee board has laid out answers to thorny questions posed by its employer representative regarding its ongoing sustainability struggles.
LCP announces 15 partner promotions
Lane Clark & Peacock (LCP) has announced a raft of partner promotions including two within its newly expanded covenant team.
Five stories you may have missed this week
This week’s top stories included XPS’ announcement of a fully-flexible working policy, and the Financial Conduct Authority’s new guidance on advising defined benefit pension transfers.
APPT launches responsible investment and climate change committee
The Association of Professional Pension Trustees (APPT) has launched a committee focused on responsible investment and climate change.
PP Monthly Digest: March 2021
Here it is, our monthly digest of the most important pension articles Professional Pensions has written and published over the last month, along with some contextual notes.
USS rejects request to review assumptions for latest valuation; UUK to 'keep up pressure'
The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) has refused a request by UK university employers to review the assumptions for its 2020 valuation which calculated a funding shortfall of almost £18bn.
Aviva launches climate transition fund for workplace schemes
Aviva has announced the launch of an actively managed equity fund it says will invest in the shares of companies across the globe that are actively responding to climate change.
DB transfers not in pension savers' best interests, FCA says
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published guidance on advising defined benefit (DB) transfers and has reiterated its stance that it is best savers do not transfer out of DB schemes.