We’re now at the end of the first quarter of 2019, and for many, at the end of the financial year. Brexit continues to rule the headlines and be a source of frustration for many, thankfully there is plenty going on in the world of pensions to help distract us from what feels like the never ending uncertainty of Brexit! We are very happy to welcome Anna Giles into our team for the next 6 months as a trainee, hopefully some of you will get the opportunity to meet her over the coming months (whilst she gets a reprieve in this month’s Pensions Compass you can expect to hear from her on a juicy pensions topic in our May edition of Pensions Compass).
Clive and Katie’s article “DB recklessness offence could catch worst employers” was published in Pensions Expert earlier this month, the article can be accessed here.
In our March edition of Pensions Compass 2019 we cover:
- Clive’s Ready Reckoner – a helpful summary of the latest developments from the courts, government and Pensions Regulator;
- The Pension Regulator’s Annual Statement for 2019 – Justin gives us his views on the Statement and what the take-home messages are for trustees and employers;
- Master trusts – Katie reports on how the authorisation process is going;
- Pensions and estate planning update – Clive and Caroline Miller from our Private Client team provide a really useful podcast update on how pensions can be used as part of estate planning; and
- Loss of protection against the Lifetime Allowance – I consider a recent First Tier Tribunal decision which may give hope to individuals who have lost fixed protection
As mentioned in our last edition of Pensions Compass, the minimum contribution required under auto-enrolment is increasing to 8% on 6 April 2019. Hopefully you’re all up to date on this but if you have any questions, for example – what are you meant to tell members? How does this interact with salary sacrifice arrangements? Please get in touch!
As ever, we love to receive feedback from our Pensions Compass recipients, do you have views about what you would like to see more of? Or less of!? Do you like our new podcast series? I will look forward to hearing any comments you may have!
We hope you enjoy this edition of the Pensions Compass.
If you have any questions regarding any of these topics please do get in touch.
Please click here for a PDF version of this month’s update.
For further details on these matters or any other pensions related queries, please contact a member of the Pensions and Employee Benefits team.
Alison Hills, Partner and Editor-in-Chief