Industry news and views from Panacea and our partners.
Auto-Enrolment_
T. Rowe Price: The Energy Crisis Is Only Just Beginning
Transitioning away from Russian gas will be a major challenge in 2023 as countries struggle to find and process enough imported liquefied natural gas to meet the shortfall.
The Pension Regulator: If your clients are falling behind, contact us for support
Employers need to complete their legal duties in good time, and we recognise that most will want to do the right thing for their staff. If your clients are having difficulty complying with their duties, they should tell us as soon as possible so we can support them. Well provide advice and guidance to get them compliant.
The Pension Regulator: Automatic enrolment doesn't end with your client's declaration of compliance
So, youve helped your clients assess their staff, put them into a workplace pension and declare their compliance. But automatic enrolment (AE) doesnt end there and neither do your clients responsibilities.
The Pension Regulator: New employers have immediate duties, even for staff under probation
A new employer has duties effective from the contract start date of their first worker - their duties start date. They must automatically enrol any eligible staff, including any staff serving their probation period, and immediately start deducting contributions from their pay.
The Pension Regulator: When are directors exempt from automatic enrolment duties?
Many directors wonder if theyre exempt from automatic enrolment and when legal duties apply to them. There are some circumstances where directors dont have any duties.
The Pension Regulator: Help your clients get their new business ready for automatic enrolment
If your clients have set up a new business, they need to start thinking about automatic enrolment. Theyll probably be aware they have certain responsibilities as part of starting a business, like registering it with HMRC - and automatic enrolment is another important task. As a legal duty, whether they have to set up a workplace pension needs to be one of the first things they consider.
The Pension Regulator: Free seminars for business advisers
Join us for a free, interactive half-day seminar where our team of AE experts will take you through the latest on AE for 2018, covering topics including.
Royal London: Government changes to auto enrolment
Proposals to change the way auto enrolment works have been published by the Department for Work and Pensions.
The Pension Regulator: Employers need to keep paying into workplace pensions
Automatic enrolment (AE) duties continue after eligible staff have been put into a workplace pension employers shouldnt think that their responsibilities stop there. They have ongoing legal duties to comply with, one of which is to pay employer contributions into the scheme every time they run payroll. Contributions must be at least the legal minimum of 1% of their staffs qualifying earnings (rising to 2% in April 2018). We can be notified by scheme providers if contributions arent regularly made, so if employers neglect their responsibilities, well find out.
Aviva: How API technology is changing the SME workplace pensions market
Back in 2014 all the talk in the DC pensions market was of a looming capacity crunch. The number of SMEs who needed to set up a new workplace pension scheme to meet their obligations under Automatic Enrolment (AE) from mid 2015 onwards was in the tens of thousands each month. That this predicted crunch never happened is testament to the way workplace pension providers adapted, from mostly paper based propositions, to online journeys that went straight through into their back office systems.
The Pensions Regulator - Industry update November 2017
Welcome to your November update bringing you our latest automatic enrolment (AE) and pensions news and tips for your sector. If youve been sent this email by a colleague, just email me with the word subscribe in the subject title and well add you to our mailing list.
The Pension Regulator: Would you make the grade if we carried out a spot check on your clients?
Weve started carrying out spot checks across the UK, to ensure employers are complying with their AE duties.
The Pension Regulator: Free automatic enrolment seminars for business advisers
Join us for a free half-day seminar where our team of AE experts will take you through the essentials of AE from first principles, as well as covering areas such as re-enrolment and how automatic enrolment will affect any of your clients who have become employers for the first time.
The Pension Regulator: Instant pension duties for new employers
From October 2017, all new employers will have automatic enrolment duties from the date they employ their first member of staff. Weve added new guidance and tools on our website for you and your clients, and well also be writing to them about their new duties.
The Pensions Regulator: steps up steps up inspections with spot check on employers
Spot checks are to be carried out on employers across the UK to make sure they are complying with their workplace pensions duties. While compliance remains in the high nineties and workplace saving is now the norm, TPR will continue to build on this success through its communications, intelligence gathering and enforcement work.
The Pension Regulator: New guidance for advisers on increasing contributions
Minimum contribution levels for automatic enrolment are increasing you may have heard this described as phasing. The increases are planned in two phases from 6 April 2018 and then again in April 2019. All employers will need to work out what they need to do to make sure they are ready. Weve got new online guidance for advisers on these increases - find out what your client needs to do and how you can support them.
New FundsNetwork retirement technical videos
FundsNetwork has extended their range of videos to cover six more topics, including tapered annual allowance, pensions and bankruptcy and fixed protection. Each session covers learning outcomes for the latest CII exam syllabuses, so theyre a great source of information if youre taking CII exams or if you simply want to refresh your technical knowledge.
The Pensions Regulator - Industry update February 2017
Welcome to your February update this regular e-newsletter brings you TPRs latest automatic enrolment (AE) and pensions news and tips for your sector.
Aviva: Sign up now for an auto-enrolment seminar near you
According to The Pensions Regulator statistics, it's estimated that over 395,000 small businesses are due to stage for auto-enrolment in 2017.
The Pension Regulator: AE Industry Liason Manager update - August 2016
Sign up to our free September events in Edinburgh and Nottingham Please join us in September for one of our half day business adviser events, where you can find out about the latest regulation changes and how you can help your clients comply with their legal duties. Off the back of feedback from previous events, we are also including information on re-enrolment, so wherever your clients are in the AE journey our experts will be able to help you support them.
Royal London: Directors, limited liability partners and auto enrolment
6 April 2016 brought in changes to employer duties for directors and partners in limited liability partnerships. Here we explain exactly whats changed.
Centre for Policy Studies: Response to DWP Committee report concerning the Lifetime ISA
Response to DWP Committee report concerning the Lifetime ISA: reinforce auto-enrolment with a Workplace ISA, to complement the Lifetime ISA
Royal London: Britain's "Forgotten Army": The collapse in self-employed pension membership - and what to do about it
Pension scheme membership among employees has risen by more than five million in the last four years because of the policy of automatic enrolment into workplace pensions. But Britains army of 4.4 million self-employed people, who account for one in seven of the workforce, are not covered by automatic enrolment.
Royal London: Steve Webb on auto enrolment and FAMR
Weve produced five bite sized videos on the back of our recent adviser roadshows. Over the next few weeks well be sharing these with you.
The Pensions Regulator - Industry Liaison special update April 2016
Would you like to attend a business adviser event in Cambridge? We are speaking at an event for business advisers in Cambridge on the morning of Tuesday 10 May. The session is free to attend and youll learn about the tasks employers need to complete to meet their legal duties. Our panel of automatic enrolment experts will take you through the basics, as well as some of the areas business advisers have told us they find more challenging. There will also be plenty of opportunity to ask us questions.
The Pensions Regulator - Industry Liaison update April 2016
New AE regulations effective 6 April 2016 Directors working under an employment contract and LLP partners New exceptions now apply to: a. directors who work under a contract of employment, where there is at least one other employee working for the company (ie the sole employee/director exemption does not apply) b. LLP partners who are workers and are not salaried members under HMRC tax rules (duties continue to apply in full to salaried members).
The Pensions Regulator - Industry liaison update March 2016
Key AE employer messages March 2016 1. Allow time to choose a pension scheme We recommend that employers allow time to look at different schemes before deciding which is suitable for them and their staff. We believe that large well run master trusts, which have obtained Master Trusts Assurance (MTA), and group personal pension plans (GPPs) authorised by the FCA are a good choice for employers seeking to comply with their automatic enrolment duties. We have published a list of master trusts which have obtained MTA and are open to all employers on our website. You can find a list of GPPs via the link to the ABI on our website.
Help wanted- AE or PP?
I would welcome your feedback on Auto Enrolment and in particular Opting Out i.e. a client who wishes to maintain or direct new contributions into a Personal Pension in preference to NEST. His employer is happy either way and the contributions would be circa 10% of salary, salary being £68K.
The Pensions Regulator - Industry Liaison update December 2015
Do you have any events planned where you would like a TPR speaker to come and talk about automatic enrolment?
Cervello: Autumn statement summary
Overall there were fewer surprises from the chancellor last week compared to autumn statements of the recent past. Technical Connection has kindly provided a detailed report with an emphasis on the tax and pensions proposals you need to know about. The report contains A detailed analysis of the new changes Where they do and don't affect you and your clients A summary of all the key facts and figures Please also find a shorter summary produced by our adviser, Richard Earl
AXA PPP: What opportunities does auto-enrolment open for you as an adviser?
For the next few years, automatic workplace pension enrolment will move employee benefits to the top of the agenda for thousands of commercial clients (small and medium businesses).
The Pension Regulator - AE Industry Liaison Manager Update - September 2015
Employers can choose to defer the process of assessing their workforce for automatic enrolment purposes for a period of one day up to three months.
Trust Pensions: Seminar. Automatic enrolment - time to act
Free seminar on auto-enrolment, outlining employer obligations and highlighting key action points
AE industry liaison manager update - August 2015
Commentary and analysis for 2014 - 2015 Some key highlights from our latest annual update. 59% of all employees are now active members of a pension scheme.
A&E in a box: Sleepwalking towards a pension nightmare
Latest report is a further 500,000 employers are to stage than expected making it 1.8 million employers to stage over the coming months.
Now Pensions: How can you rate auto enrolment pensions?
This is proving a real challenge for the major industry research and ratings companies such as Defaqto. They have all had a go, but to my mind they arent really hitting the mark.
The Pension Regulator: AE industry Liaison Manager Press release - July 2015
Press release - more help for employers on choosing a pension scheme on our website We have stepped up our support for the 1.3 million small and micro businesses preparing for automatic enrolment by publishing guidance to help them find a good quality pension scheme.
Royal London: July 2015 Budget Summary
George Osborne delivered his seventh Budget on Wednesday 8 July 2015. As predicted the main change affecting the pensions industry is a reduction in the annual allowance for those with high incomes. However, a potentially greater impact could result from the outcome of the consultation on pensions tax relief. Here's our summary of the changes with links to Treasury or HM Revenue and Customs if you would like more detail.
The Pensions Regulator: AE Industry Liaison Manager update - July 2015
If there are any particular topics you would like to hear about, your feedback would be welcome. Please feel free to circulate this email to appropriate colleagues and any third party contacts and introducers.
Now Pensions: Auto enrolment for small businesses simple is the key from 2016
2016 and the huge increase in numbers of small firms staging for auto enrolment is now not far away. Will the market remain profitable enough for advisers to continue participating?