Analysis and comment

July/August 2010

A very international pension

UK defined benefit schemes may soon find themselves having to make sizeable adjustments, following the publication of a green paper by the European Commission, which includes a wide-ranging selection of proposals to produce ‘adequate sustainable and safe’ pension systems across Europe, says Maggie Williams.

Be careful what you wish for

In the end, fears over restricting pensions tax relief for higher earners – the issue that has so exercised the industry for months – turned out to be a minor aside in the emergency Budget, as industry’s long, tough campaign to convince the Government to scrap the move bore fruit. But the victory may turn out to be a pyrric one as chancellor Osborne’s plans to cut the annual allowance to £30,000 from £255,000 may affect a lot more savers, says Andrew Sheen.

Following Auntie

The BBC’s pension changes will not be popular, but they are practical, believes Maggie Williams, if it hopes to avoid falling into a ‘pension fund with a small broadcaster attached’ black hole from which it cannot return.