Pension Schemes and Pension Funds in the United Kingdom.

Abstract

Never has there been so much media interest in pensions as there is currently. Never has the pensions world changed so rapidly as it has over the last few years; we have seen the introduction of a new state supplementary pension scheme, new stakeholder pensions, and a flood of companies closing their final salary schemes and replacing them with defined contribution schemes. Never have there been so many complaints about our pension system; about the state pension falling behind earnings, about the misselling of personal pensions, about the perceived poor value of annuities, and about high charges and poor investment performance. This new edition of Pension Schemes and Pension Funds in the United Kingdom provides the latest information on all the key state and private pension schemes operating in the UK, including: the basic state pension, minimum income guarantee and pension credit; the state second pension; company pension schemes; and personal and stakeholder pension schemes. It does this within the context of the long historical development of the UK pensions system since medieval times. It also examines government pensions policy over the last twenty years, in particular the reduction in state pensions and the transfer of the burden of pension provision to the funded private sector. It also examines future trends and future concerns, such as increasing longevity and the adequacy of savings for retirement when people are young and in work. As most pension schemes are funded, the author also examines the latest issues in pension funding, such as the new accounting standard FRS17, active and passive fund management, investment risk budgeting and management, global investment performance standards, short-termism and the Myners review of institutional investment. The book concludes with a proposal for the Ideal Pension Scheme.