The Brexit vote will scare workers into saving for retirement December 6, 2016 Britain's decision to leave the EU will boost pension savings as concerns over future financial uncertainty provide a catalyst for workers to put more money aside for their retirement. Nearly half of businesses polled by Close Brothers believe the Brexit vote will increase employee engagement in retirement planning and over one in four employers expect staff to increase their pension [...]
UK pensions deficits rise amid uncertainty after EU referendum December 5, 2016 Pension deficits have almost doubled over the last 12 months due to ongoing market volatility sparked by Britain’s vote to leave the EU, posing serious threats to companies’ balance sheets and their ability to pay dividends, according to JLT Employee Benefits. “As we rapidly approach the all-important year-end, at current market levels many companies’ accounts [...]
£30bn in the pipeline: This is the year UK firms will cut pension schemes loose January 4, 2017 Britain's companies will shift sky-rocketing pension liabilities from their balance sheets this year, experts have predicted. With defined benefit pension schemes at record year-end levels, 2017 will be year to de-risk and UK plc is keen to take advantage of the improved affordability of shifting scheme risk to the insurance, according to Willis Towers Watson (WTW). Read more: As pension [...]
Investors want to better understand why executives are paid what they are paid October 31, 2016 An influential investment management trade body has written to the bosses of Britain's largest companies to urge "greater simplicity and flexibility of pay structures". The Investment Association (IA), which represents companies that manage over £5.7 trillion of assets, wrote to the chief executives of the FTSE 350 to set out what shareholders want from company boards [...]
Pension deficit rate of rise slows but experts warn this isn’t the end of problems October 3, 2016 The meteoric rise in pension deficits abated during September with aggregate levels stagnating for the first time since the Brexit vote. Deficits have leapt since Spring after asset value growth failed to keep up with the rate at which bond yields have collapsed. Read more: Pension costs pose a material threat to UK plc profitability say [...]
Copper prices slide as rally following Donald Trump’s election begins to reverse November 15, 2016 Copper prices slid today after a rally prompted by the surprise election of Donald Trump as US president came to a halt. Three-month copper prices on the London Metal Exchanged dropped as far as 3.6 per cent during trading today and were down almost two per cent to $5,465 per tonne around mid-afternoon. "Price action in copper [...]
Women should hold one third of senior executive jobs at FTSE 100 firms by 2020, says Sir Philip Hampton’s review November 6, 2016 One in three senior executive positions at FTSE 100 firms should be occupied by women by 2020, a new government-backed review will say this week. Led by Sir Philip Hampton, the chairman of GlaxoSmithKline and UBM chair Dame Helen Alexander, the review will recommend the new target for FTSE 100 exec committees and the management [...]
Most fintech employees don’t value diversity in the workplace November 14, 2016 Fintech might be shaking up the financial industry with disruptive innovation, but new research suggests it hasn’t been so ahead of the crowd on diversity in the workplace. In fact fintech employees place the lowest value on diversity in the workplace of all financial services workers, according to recruitment firm Astbury Marsden. The survey of [...]
Discretionary fund managers are expecting “choppy waters” after Brexit vote October 18, 2016 Discretionary fund managers (DFM) are anticipating “choppy waters” after the Brexit vote, a new study has found. Seven in 10 believe the UK’s Leave vote poses a threat to investments, while 55 per cent cited weak global GDP growth and 52 per cent geopolitical uncertainty. The findings were based on a CoreData Research study conducted in [...]
Hedge funds and private equity houses lead gender diversity in financial services despite “boys club” reputation October 17, 2016 Hedge funds, private equity houses and other investment partnerships are leading the charge towards gender diversity in financial services despite their “boys club” reputation, according to a new report out today. Still only 12 per cent of partners working in this area are women, but this is up from 10 per cent last year, global executive search [...]