Pensions
Sunak: LGPS should punch its weight
Local government minister Rishi Sunak has said he is determined to ensure the pooling of council pension schemes reaches its ‘full potential’.
Complexity barrier for pension schemes
The complexity of local government pension schemes is the biggest barrier to improved governance and administration, a survey of funds has found.
Brum takes £63m from reserves to help overspend
Birmingham City Council has spent a whopping £63m of its reserves to ‘structurally deliver’ its 2017/18 budget and reduce an overspend of more than £20m, a report to senior councillors has revealed.
Politics has blocked tax reform to fund care
Politicians tinker with old people’s taxes at their peril; just ask Theresa May. The trouble is old people vote, more so than the young as the latter discovered to their cost during the EU referendum.
Government back to drawing board on Fair Deal
Whitehall remains committed to introducing the Fair Deal policy into the local government pension scheme (LGPS) despite ditching draft regulations.
Sustainable equity fund launched for London
The sector-led London Collective Investment Vehicle (LCIV) has today launched a £66m sustainable equity fund, with a further £180m injection expected.
Pensions expert backs London CIV
A pensions expert has backed the principles behind the London Collective Investment Vehicle (CIV) after it appeared to run into difficulties.
Carillion forced into liquidation
One of the country’s biggest construction and facilities management companies, Carillion, has gone into liquidation after struggling for the last few months.
Carillion shares fall sharply
Shares in struggling infrastructure firm Carillion fell sharply today following reports that lenders had rejected its survival plan and that it had lined up a possible administrator.
Pension fund venture snaps up stake in water firm
An infrastructure investment joint venture involving five local government pension funds has agreed to buy a 7.5% interest in Anglian Water Group (AWG) from 3i.
Bid to lower age for pension enrolment
Cllr Kieran Quinn, chairman of Greater Manchester Pension Fund, has encouraged the Government to lower the age for auto-enrolment of workers into employer pension schemes from 22 to 18 years old.
GMPF ‘confident of major investments’
The £45bn Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) remains confident that local authority pension funds will make further big investments in infrastructure projects in the UK despite professional advisers’ warnings to councils about the uncertainties of Brexit and the possibility of a Corbyn-led government.
Councils investing £16bn of pensions into fossil fuels
More than £16bn of council pension funds have been invested into fossil fuel companies, new research has revealed.
Pension funds call for more tax transparency
Local authority pension funds have urged Britain’s biggest businesses to improve their tax transparency, after it emerged that few have complied with new reporting requirements.
New frontiers for pension funds
The GMPF and its partners continue to grow, with an ultimate goal of becoming ‘a platform for local government’. Sam Clayden reports
Imminent reclassification set to be ‘game changer’ for councils
Councils with an investment portfolio below the £10m threshold are pondering their options ahead of their reclassification as retail clients.
‘Talk less and invest more in infrastructure’
A former chairman of the Local Government Association has urged council pension funds to get off the sidelines and start investing in infrastructure.
Pensions partnership launches fund
A £1.3bn fund has been launched by Local Pensions Partnership (LPP) to offer investors ‘cost-effective exposure to diverse sources of return’.
Former Ofsted inspector moves to Walsall
Walsall MBC has appointed a new director of children’s services. Sally Rowe will join the council from Luton BC where she is the corporate director of people.
Accountants in pension law change call
Charities should be allowed to exit the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) to stop them building up unaffordable debt, a new report has argued.