From IDS Pensions Bulletin 212, February 2008

Company news

• Lasmo transfers liabilities to Paternoster
• DMGT looks to merge its final salary schemes
• Proposals for NHS pension changes

Regulatory round-up

• General and PPF administration levies for 2008/09

Employer contributions fall from previous all-time peak

Last year we reported the findings of the Office of National Statistics which showed that in the year ending 31 March 2006 total employer contributions to self-administered occupational pension schemes had increased year-on-year by a hefty 34.4 per cent. The comparable figure as at 31 March 2007 is a year-on-year decrease of 10.5 per cent. We examine the data and report on the individual experience of 80 pension schemes.

The changing landscape for DB schemes

In October 2007, the Pensions Policy Institute published a Research Paper looking at how defined benefit pension provision in the private sector is changing, including what is affecting DB pension provision, how scheme sponsors are responding and what the future holds. We summarise its findings.

Comment

Andrew Powell, editor of the IDS Pensions Law Reports and a consultant to Hammonds, looks at the problems that pension scheme trusts can create and how these can be rectified.