2002 News

ISC Myners guidelines
December 2002
The Institutional Shareholders Committee (ISC) is made of the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF), the Association of British Insurers (ABI), The Association of Investment Trust Companies (AI...

The equity risk premium
December 2002
Introduction This note discusses the out performance of equity assets over bond assets (known as the equity risk premium or ERP). Historically, equities have shown much higher volatility of capital va...

Historic Introductory Trustee Training Seminars
December 2002
The need for proper trustee training is more important today than ever before. The Pensions Act 1995 and subsequent legislation places significant responsibilities on trustees and imposes penalties if...

Historic Investment Seminars for Trustees
December 2002
Probably the most important duty of a pension scheme trustee is managing the scheme's investments. The Myners review of UK institutional investment controversially stated that trustees often lack the ...

Simplicity, Security And Choice Working And Saving For Retirement
December 2002
Summary of the government's proposals No change to the excessively complex two-tier system of State benefits and means tested benefits; No change in State Pension Age although there will be greater fl...

Barnett Waddingham Investment Note - Manager-of-Managers
November 2002
This article discusses the relatively new (from the UK perspective, at least) area of manager-of-managers in the UK pension fund investment market. There are a number of manager-of-managers (MoM) oper...

Barnett Waddingham expands its SSAS business
November 2002
Barnett Waddingham are pleased to announce that we have reached a preliminary agreement with Mercer Human Resource Consulting to take over their UK Small Self-Administered Scheme (SSAS) business. Merc...

Equitable update
November 2002
In November 2002 Equitable published its interim accounts for the 6 months to 30 June 2002. The headline coming from these accounts is the deterioration in the Fund for Future Appropriations (FFA) fro...

The Lord Mayor's Show
November 2002
Victoria Cole from our London office saw the Lord Mayor's Show processing past the office. Like the London Marathon, Royal Weddings, the Trooping of the Colour and various other grand events, the Lord...

Actuaries - Appointed or Dis-Appointed
October 2002
John Jeffery, from our Life team in London, describes the changing role of an actuary in the Life industry as proposed by the FSA. Introduction The role of the actuary within life assurance is changin...

Appointments
October 2002
Mark Howard , a partner in our Cheltenham office, has been appointed the new Chairman of the Association of Pensioneer Trustees. Jon Bridger , another partner in our Cheltenham office, has been appoin...

Historic SSAS Seminars
October 2002
For over ten years, Barnett Waddingham have hosted a series of seminars on the subject of small self-administered pension schemes each autumn. The seminars are designed to give both our clients and th...

Property Investment in your SSAS or SIPP
October 2002
Andrew Hague from our Amersham office discusses the merits of property as an investment for a SSAS or SIPP. Why invest in property? With low interest rates and a depressed and volatile stock market, p...

Death benefits within a SIPP
September 2002
SIPPs (or Self Invested Personal Pensions, to give the full name) have been growing in popularity in recent years as they allow individuals to take control of their own pension fund. Here, Claire Morl...

The Turnball Report
September 2002
Running a pension scheme is a risky business... No doubt most trustees of pension schemes are currently feeling that they are only too aware of the risks of running a pension scheme, particularly thos...

Loans within Small Self-Administered Pension Schemes
September 2002
One of the major attractions of Small Self-Administered Schemes (SSAS) is the ability of the Trustees - usually the Directors of the Sponsoring Company - to make their own investment decisions. This p...

Falling equity markets and pension scheme funding
September 2002
Paul Houghton from our Amersham office discusses the consequences of the falling equity markets for occupational pension schemes. As has been widely reported in the national press, equity markets have...

With-Profits governance
September 2002
Rajeev Shah from the life team discusses the impact of the FSA's feedback statement on the governance of with profits funds. The FSA published its feedback statement on its with profits review in May ...

The Sandler Review
September 2002
Pete McGurk, a partner in our life team, discusses the Sandler report on medium and long-term savings in the UK. The Sandler Review The bombardment of the life insurance and pensions industries with r...

The eighth annual Barnett Waddingham six-a-side football tournament
September 2002
Paul Latimer from our Amersham office reports on the eighth annual six-a-side football tournament. Holding the eighth annual Barnett Waddingham six-a-side football tournament on the Friday of the Augu...

Barnett Waddingham Cocktail Party 2002
August 2002
Adam Walker reports on Barnett Waddingham's Cocktail Party. Once again ignoring the risks posed by the scope for jokes inherent in juxtaposing clients, BW staff and the world's fauna (remember the eig...

Subbuteo versus Schroders
August 2002
Adam Walker raises his spirits to report on the Subbuteo® tournament between BW and Schroders. Regular readers of the BW website will be aware of the London office's interest in the classic table foot...

Historic Current Pensions Issues Seminars
August 2002
For the last few years, Barnett Waddingham has been running a series of free seminars on current pension topics for its clients and friends. The information below sets out the topics covered in the Wi...

The Myners Review - Barnett Waddingham's Brochure
August 2002
Following requests from clients to make our glossy brochure on the Myners Review available in electronic format, the brochure and the "Summary for Trustees" insert (which provides a useful checklist o...

Accounting for Pension Costs under FRS17 - 2001 Survey
July 2002
Nigel Hacking sets out the key assumptions adopted by FTSE100 companies in determining the value of their pension liabilities under the Financial Reporting Standard, FRS17. Introduction In this note, ...

Annual Amersham vs London cricket match
July 2002
Mihir Shah from the London office reports on the Amersham-London cricket match. Another year, another glorious day for the traditional London vs Amersham fixture at Seer Green. London 's innings opene...

SIAS table football competition
June 2002
Here's how Barnett Waddingham fared at the SIAS table football competition. 7pm, 25 April, Cafe Kick, Shoreditch High Street, London. Three (well, two and two halves) hopeful pairings from Barnett Wad...

Pension scheme wind-ups: new reporting requirements
June 2002
Alan Cottle from Barnett Waddingham's Cheltenham office explains how new regulations affect how the trustees of pension schemes will have to keep members and other parties informed during the winding-...

Reviewing Administration Systems
June 2002
Over the past few years, many changes have taken place that have put pressure on self administered occupational pension schemes and the computerized systems that support them. Chris Potts from the Ame...

New solvency margin requirements for insurance undertakings
June 2002
Simon Spencer, from the life insurance consultancy team in the London office, reports on new EU solvency requirements for insurers. In October 2000 the European Commission published proposals to amend...

New Partners and Associates 2002
June 2002
The Partners of Barnett Waddingham are pleased to announce promotions with effect from 1 June 2002. New Partners Nuala Hedges heads the defined benefit and defined contribution pensions administration...

Preparing for Compliance Review of Appointed Actuaries
May 2002
Rajeev Shah on the progress of the Compliance Review of Appointed Actuaries. In October 2001, the Life Board of the Faculty and Institute of Actuaries published agreed principles in relation to compli...

Preparatory work and issues for Compliance Reviews
May 2002
A list of some of the preparatory work necessary and issues requiring consideration prior to peer review is given below. This is intended to be at a high-level and is by no means an exhaustive list. G...

Spring NORACS meeting
May 2002
Leeds partner Louise Witts reports back on the Spring 2002 NORACS meeting. Nick Salter and Louise Witts attended the Spring meeting of NORACS firms in Canada at the beginning of April. As both Nick an...

Handling the pensions earnings cap
May 2002
The 1989 UK Finance Act caught pension observers by surprise. In his annual Budget speech to Parliament, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced bad news and good news. The bad news was that employe...

The Shillcock case
April 2002
Nick Bunch from Barnett Waddingham's London office looks at the recent High Court appeal. Mrs Shillcock, a part-time employee, was excluded from membership of her company’s pension scheme as it only p...

Declining with profit bonus rates
April 2002
Bonus rates are falling! Is this a problem? Jug Parmar from Barnett Waddingham's Life insurance consultancy team investigated payouts from UK with profit endowment policies. With profit policies are s...

The 2002 Budget and Pensions
April 2002
Barnett Waddingham's summary of Gordon Brown's April 2002 Budget. There was little in the budget which has a direct effect on occupational or personal pension plans. The Chancellor did review State pe...

Cheltenham Jazz Festival
April 2002
Barnett Waddingham continues its sponsorship of the annual Cheltenham Jazz Festival . The seventh Cheltenham International Jazz Festival takes place from 2 May to 6 May 2002, and carries on the tradit...

On the Cheap
March 2002
After seven years in Bread Street, Barnett Waddingham's London office is on the move - just around the corner into Cheapside (or "the Cheap", as it seems to be called in some mediaeval sources). Bow B...

Equitable Life - after the compromise
March 2002
Rajeev Shah from Barnett Waddingham's Life insurance consultancy team in the London office reports on how the decision reached in the Equitable Life's compromise deal will impact on the Society and it...

The Ageing Population - Burden or Benefit?
February 2002
The Actuarial Profession's first international conference on "The Ageing Population - Burden or Benefit?" was held in Edinburgh on 20-22 January 2002. The delegates were a good mix of actuaries and no...

Cheltenham office on the move
February 2002
Lisa White from Barnett Waddingham's Cheltenham office recounts the history of the team's move across town. When the Cheltenham office opened back in 1996 it would have been hard for the original 21 s...

Modernising annuities
February 2002
Barnett Waddingham's response to the DWP 's consultation document issued in early February 2002. The consultation document issued by the Department for Work and Pensions and the Inland Revenue on 5 Fe...

EURACS technical training day
January 2002
Chris Watts reports on the EURACS technical training day held at Barnett Waddingham's offices in London. European integration Our London office recently hosted the first EURACS technical training day....

The inaugural winner of the Rodney Barnett Award
January 2002
The Rodney Barnett award, in memory of one of the forefathers of Barnett Waddingham who sadly died last year, honours the wittiest or most unusual contribution to The Actuary magazine during the year,...