pensionsandsavings.com

  • PENSIONSANDSAVINGS.COM

    From Ros Altmann:economist and pensions,
    investment and retirement policy expert

    • pensionsandsavings.com

    pensionsandsavings.com

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    Category: Monetary and Fiscal Policy

    Emergency FCA action needed to prevent collapse of UK investment companies and boost pension fund investment in sustainable growth

    Emergency FCA action needed to prevent collapse of UK investment companies and boost pension fund investment in sustainable growth

    Comments 5 comments

    Misleading cost disclosures are reducing investments in alternative energy and harming UK growth.   UK investment Companies are ready-made for kick-starting pension investment in sustainable UK growth, but FCA charge reporting rules makes them look high-cost, deterring new investors. No more dithering and delay – Government should intervene now to ensure the FCA stops these inappropriate EU-derived charge disclosure rules being applied to UK investment companies. FCA objectives to ensure fair competition, well-functioning, orderly markets, properly informed consumers and accurate charge…

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    Regulators have driven pension funds away from UK investment trusts – FCA needs to act urgently to stop this damage

    Regulators have driven pension funds away from UK investment trusts – FCA needs to act urgently to stop this damage

    Comments 0 Comment

    UK economic growth under threat as investment trust crisis damages investments in UK infrastructure, renewable energy and real estate projects.    Chancellor’s Mansion House reforms want pension funds to invest more to boost key sectors, but new regulatory cost disclosure rules have driven investors out of UK investment companies. Since 2022, waves of selling have caused funding to dry up, as official guidance – derived from EU disclosure standards – which EU firms do not even use – has artificially…

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    Companies should take more responsibility for curbing price rises, especially after huge pandemic

    Companies should take more responsibility for curbing price rises, especially after huge pandemic

    Comments 0 Comment

    Time for businesses to take responsibility for helping overcome current inflation crisis. Chancellor is right to expect businesses to play their part in curbing price rises and margin expansion. After the massive amounts spent supporting businesses through Covid, there should be a recognition of their duty to society as economy looks for new normal. Corporate Social Responsibility should include behaving responsibly during current economic emergency which was partly caused by post-pandemic readjustments. The Chancellor has been speaking to businesses, urging…

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    Government should require all UK pension funds to support UK growth

    Government should require all UK pension funds to support UK growth

    Comments 1 comment

    UK Pension Funds should support green growth, infrastructure, climate and nature protection.  At least 25% of each pension is funded by taxpayers, which could justify requiring allocations to domestic long-term growth projects.  UK pension funds have slashed their exposure to equities, especially in the UK, but diversification to higher return assets is overdue. Until late 1990s, pension funds relied on high equity allocations: Actuaries and regulators used to assume that equity investment was the most appropriate asset class for long…

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    The Autumn Statement – good to see inflation protection and triple lock promises honoured

    The Autumn Statement – good to see inflation protection and triple lock promises honoured

    Comments 26 comments

    Delighted to see Chancellor keeping the State Pension triple lock promise. Ensuring State Pensions and Pension Credit rise by 10.1% cpi for next year is the right decision.  I also welcome the inflation protection for all other benefits as inflation has soared.   Today’s fiscal statement will come as a big relief to millions of worried pensioners.  It is great to see that the Chancellor has decided to honour past commitments to uprate State Pensions in line with September’s 10.1%…

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    Bank of England needs to revise its thinking

    Bank of England needs to revise its thinking

    Comments 0 Comment

    Bank of England needs to extend emergency gilt buying programme and suspend QT for now.  Pension funds and LDI are not the sole cause of the gilts crisis and should not be blamed.  Monetary policy and fiscal policy errors compounded pressures from actuarial advisors and Pensions Regulator.  To restore confidence, Bank of England is likely to have to extend emergency gilt market support.  Given the role of QE in undermining gilt market stability, Bank of England should announce it is…

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    Bank of England measures and Government policy management

    Bank of England measures and Government policy management

    Comments 2 comments

    QT Tantrum – Bank of England u-turn to buy gilts shows its aim of £80billion gilt sales is unrealistic and likely to be far worse than 2013 US taper tantrum. Bank of England had to step in as UK pension fund margin calls – on top of international investor selling – meant there were no buyers. The QE experiment has left a dangerous legacy across the Western world, but the UK has suffered most due to collapsing international confidence about…

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    Chancellor and PM can help pension funds create their Investment Big Bang

    Chancellor and PM can help pension funds create their Investment Big Bang

    Comments 1 comment

    PM and Chancellor are right to encourage UK pension funds to invest more in UK growth projects.    Investment Big Bang could be kick-started at pace and scale by DB pensions more easily than DC, including near £300billion local authority pension assets.    If Government offers a guaranteed return at least equivalent to gilts, DB schemes could invest more freely, boost growth more quickly and help fix their deficits faster.    Long-term Asset Fund can help DC schemes overcome daily…

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    Bank of England must put QE on pause tomorrow

    Bank of England must put QE on pause tomorrow

    Comments 0 Comment

    As Covid pandemic wanes, Bank of England’s emergency policies should be paused.  Money-tree policy has no clear end, but is inflating asset bubbles which may spill over into price inflation.  Global central banks are not even clear that QE is needed as inflation is picking up. QE is still a monetary experiment: When central banks introduced the money-printing idea of ‘quantitative easing’, in the teeth of the financial crisis, the policy was designed to stave off a 1930s-style deflation and…

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    Budget Comment

    Budget Comment

    Comments 1 comment

    Freezing the Pensions Lifetime Allowance will hit younger pension savers while older and wealthiest will already have protection at higher levels. Constant changes in rules and limits undermines long-term retirement planning. Chancellor should consider root and branch review of all the allowances to ensure a sustainable and stable system. This review should include identifying ways of incorporating provision for social care into long-term savings and pensions. Damage to confidence in long-term retirement planning: I recognise that the Chancellor has a…

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