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Pensions News
Pension News October 2008
PENSIONS NEWS
The Secretariat
There is not much to report in respect of the Secretariat, except that Loretta has successfully completed her six month probationary period and appears to be settling in well. Loretta has become a firm favourite of the pensioners and widows who have dealt with her. Read the rest of this entry »
Pension News July 2008
This is a summary of my presentation given to the U.K.M.P.A at their annual conference held in Harrogate in May 2008. Read the rest of this entry »
PENSIONS NEWS
The Secretariat
The month of March saw changes in the Secretariat’s staff with Thursday the 20th being Richard Wiscombe’s last day with the P.N.P.F. before staring his new job up in London. Read the rest of this entry »
PENSIONS NEWS
PENSIONS NEWS
The Secretariat
Buckhurst House
In August of this year the lease on Buckhurst House came up for renewal and I am very pleased to say that the Trustees agreed to the new terms and that the upheaval of another move has been avoided for the foreseeable future. Read the rest of this entry »
Pension News 04/07
PENSIONS NEWS
The Secretariat
Well, both Richard Wiscombe and I are still located at Buckhurst House in Sevenoaks. The lease comes up for renewal later this year and I am very pleased to say that the Trustees have agreed that we can stay, a Read the rest of this entry »
Pension News 01/07
PENSION NEWS
Richard Williamson Chairman PNPF Trustees
As a result of comments from members Richard has identified a need to explain the role of trustees and hopes that the following will clarify the key issues. Read the rest of this entry »
Pension News 10/06
PENSION NEWS
The Secretariat
Those of you who ring the Secretariat may notice that there has been a change to the staffing levels. As part of an ongoing reduction in costs the Trustees decided to make the part-time position of Secretarial/Administrative Assistant redundant. This has resulted in Vicki Apps leaving the Secretariat and taking up a life of leisure with more time to spend enjoying her numerous hobbies.
This leaves Richard and me to carry on with the day to day running of the Fund and the reduction in staff should not affect the standard of service you have been receiving.
Trustees
There have been changes in the Trustee Board, as well, with Stewart Lee (Forth pilot) resigning from the Board and retiring from pilotage. Tony Anderton (
On the Port side David Holmes has retired as an Alternate and Graeme Clark,
Investment Strategy
The Trustees are continuing to implement their investment strategy with the last £10m tranche disinvested from the equities portfolio and transferred to Quellos at the end of October. This completed the second phase of the strategy and the Trustees will be discussing the third phase at their November quarterly meeting.
Summary of Funding Statement
In accordance with current legislation and Government dictates the Summary of Funding Statement was sent out to all P.N.P.F. members on
Benefit changes
Flexible Retirement
From
· You must be over age 50 (age 55 from B2010)
· Once your PNPF pension has been put into payment you will not be allowed to continue to contribute to the PNPF or accrue any future pensionable service. Your entitlement to death in service and ill health benefits will also cease.
· You must have the consent of your Competent Harbour Authority.
The Association’s Payment Proposal
The Trustees have been in consultation with the Association of Participating Bodies in the PNPF (the “Association”) regarding the Fund’s level of funding. This culminated in the Association putting forward a voluntary payment proposal to the Trustees. The proposal has the support of the majority, but not all, of the CHAs with employed and self-employed active pilots, is voluntary and is not legally binding on either the Trustees or the CHAs.
Following actuarial and legal advice the Trustees agreed to accept the Association’s proposal, which is retrospective from
News in General
Disclosure Regulations
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) announced that the draft regulations which were due to come into force in October have been dropped. The new regulations would have introduced annual benefit statements for defined benefit (DB) schemes (the PNPF already provides these) and the concept of information disclosure within a
“reasonable time”.
Age Discrimination
New laws covering age discrimination are to be postponed for two months and will now come into effect on
Age Regulations
Judicial review proceedings have been commenced by Heyday, on behalf of Age Concern, to challenge the Government’s introduction of a national default age of 65.
Contributions up, Membership down
A recent survey by the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) reveals that employer pension contributions rates in the private sector are increasing while the number of members of schemes is falling.
Pensions experiment
A recent experiment challenged 26 households, aged between 30 and 50, to live off the equivalent disposable income today’s pensioners received if they relied on the state pension. All but one household, overspent their state pension allowance by 158 per cent. The majority spending their weekly entitlement within three days.
Debbie Marten
Pension News 07/06
PENSION NEWS
THE SECRETARIAT
Well
Rules & Explanatory Brochure
Benefit changes arising from the 2004 valuation as well as tax simplification have meant major revisions to the Explanatory Brochures and the Rules. We hope to be in a position to provide pilots with updated copies in the near future.
Annual Report & Accounts 2005
The Trustees Annual Report & Accounts for the year ending
Investment Strategy
The Trustees are in the process of implementing the investment strategy, as recommended by the Investment Consultant, following his review of the Fund’s asset allocation. To this end on
Once the value adding assets are in place the Trustees will be turning their attention to the bonds and equity managers.
Summary of Funding Statement
By no later than
The challenge for the Trustees will be to put the information in a context that is user friendly and easy to understand.
Government White Paper
In 2002 the Government established a Pensions Commission, headed by Adair Turner, to investigate the existing ‘voluntarist’ approach to retirement saving in the
The first report set out the results of the Commission’s investigation into retirement savings. It stated that unless people were prepared to work longer, pay more tax and save more they would have to accept poorer retirements.
The Commission’s second report set out their proposals of how the three-pronged approach – save more, pay more tax or work longer – should be balanced. The third report was a short reply to some of the criticisms levelled at the second report. In its White Paper, Security in Retirement – towards a new pensions system, published on
State second pension (S2P) will be a flatrate weekly pension payment of £60 by 2030.
Contracting-out for defined contribution schemes will be abolished.
The proportion of pensioners on meanstesting is estimated to fall from 45% to 33%.
State pension age for women will rise from 60 to 65 between 2010 and 2020. There will be further rises for both men and women beginning with an increase from 65 to 66 in 2024, then again to 67 in 2044 and finally to 68 in 2046. Employees will be automatically enrolled into the National Pension Savings Scheme (NPSS) at the age of 22 and will pay 4% of salary. Employers must contribute 3% while the Government will contribute 1% in the form of tax relief. The number of years of National Insurance Contributions (NIC) needed to qualify for a full basic state pension will be cut to 30 (currently women need 39 years of contributions while men need 44). Reduction of burdens on schemes by bringing forward legislation to allow schemes to convert guaranteed minimum pension (GMP) rights into scheme benefits.
Age Discrimination Regulations
On 1 October 2006 The Age
Discrimination Regulations come into effect. The impact on occupational pension schemes is that there will now be a national default retirement age of 65, making compulsory retirement below 65 unlawful unless objectively justified. Employees will now have the right to request to work beyond 65 or any other retirement age set by the company. The employer has a duty to consider such requests.
Working Past Age 65
The Government’s White Paper has restored the link between the basic state pension and rises in average earnings which was broken in 1980 by Margaret Thatcher, but to fund this change the state pension age will now rise to 68. A recent survey carried out on 243
Given the results of the survey you have to wonder if the Government really knows what Joe Public wants.
Debbie Marten
Pension News 04/06
PENSION NEWS
THE SECRETARIAT
February saw the handover of the Chairmanship of the Trustee Board from Ports to Pilots and Richard Williamson, a
Aside from this little has changed at the Secretariat as we are still working hard trying to cope with all the changes arising from the Pensions and Finance Acts 2004 and the triennial valuation as well as the impact these will have on our systems, understanding of pensions and communicating it simply but sufficiently to members. Hopefully by the time you read this the worst of it will be over and we will have managed to have communicated and coped with all the changes successfully.
VALUATION AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2004
It is beginning to feel like that by the time the ramifications of this valuation are finally done and dusted it will be time for the 2007 one to start.
The finalisation of the results of the triennial valuation was considered an appropriate time to review the factors used by the PNPF when calculating the various benefit options available to members. The two factors of particular relevance to members are:
· The Early Retirement Factor (ERF)
· Commutation Factor
It is the Fund’s practice to reduce a member’s pension if taken before normal retirement age. This is because it is expected that the member’s pension will be paid for a longer period of time and thus the funds underpinning the pension will be invested for a shorter period of time. The factors are designed to be cost neutral to the pension being given up. At their February meeting the Trustees agreed to adopt the recommendation of the fund’s actuary and these factors became effective on
The Fund’s commutation factor had been 10 since the beginning of 1991, but the Trustees were advised by the actuary that although administratively easy and simple for members to understand it was, he felt, inequitable. It was agreed that age related factors that reflected the differences in the expected term of pension payments and thus the value of the pension being given up would be adopted as from 28.02.2006. The revised factors are:
Ages Factor
65, 64 12
63, 62 13
61, 60 14
59, 58 15
57, 56, 55 16
PENSIONS AND FINANCE ACTS 2004
Pension regulations continued to change during the course of 2005. Those effective from April 2005 were covered in my article of April 2005. Those that have come into force since are:
From December 2005
The new scheme funding and investment requirements came into force on 30 December 2005. The main requirement of the investment regulations is the Statement of Investment Principles (SIP), which the Trustees must review once every three years and without delay after any significant change in investment policy. The Trustees must also consult with employers on the content of their SIP. The SIP must cover:
· The kinds of investment held.
· Balance between the investments
· The ways in which risks are measured and managed.
· Expected return
· Realisation of investments
· Extent to which social, environmental or ethical considerations are taken into account.
Scheme Specific Funding replaces the Minimum Funding Requirement (MFR)
for valuations occurring after 23rd
September 2005.
It now falls to the Trustees to decide both which actuarial method is used (provided that it is one of the accrued benefits methods) and also the value of the various economic, financial and demographic assumptions that are to be applied.
From 6 April 2006
Scheme Rule Changes
Employers will be required to consult members if schemes are closed or changed for the future.
Cash Transfers or Refunds
Members who have at least 3 months but no more than 24 months qualifying service must be offered either a transfer payment based on the underlying benefits or a refund of their own contributions.
Benefit Changes
Members have already been notified of the changes arising out of the valuation and tax simplification so I do not propose utilising space to reiterate what members already know. If you have not received a letter please let me know and I will ensure that a further copy is posted off to you.
CHANGES TO PNPF RULES AND EXPLANATORY BROCHURES
Amended Explanatory Brochures and PNPF Rules will be sent out to members as soon as they have been reprinted.
BENEFIT STATEMENTS
Members should have, by now, received their annual benefit statement for 2005. Apologies for the delay in getting them out but changes in benefits have meant that these statements have had to be manually calculated and checked. Your patience during this process was greatly appreciated.
BUDGET MARCH 2006
On
The general points of interest are:
TAX ALLOWANCES
Single Person
Aged under 65 £5035
Aged 65-74 £7280
Aged 75+ £7420
Aged income limit £19,500
Married Couple’s Allowance
Aged under 75 £6065
Aged 75 and over £6135
Age income limit £20,100
Blind Person Allowance £1610
Income Tax Bands
Starting rate 10% 0 – £2150
Basic rate 22% £2015 – £33,300
Higher rate 40% Over £33,300
Debbie Marten
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