Resources

Turning the tide on pension scams

These uncertain times are often seen as a window of opportunity for scammers looking to prey on vulnerable individuals. A report by Action Fraud found that pension scams had become one of the most common types of fraud to occur last year. The pensions industry is facing pressure to do more to prevent this situation, but what role can trustees play?

The journey to net zero

For professional clients only

Five years ago, adding an environmental, social and governance (ESG) tilt to your investment portfolio was seen as a nice-to-have. Today, there is a recognition that if you don’t consider this, it will impact performance. This has added pressure to time-pressed pension trustees to consider the potential effect of climate change on their scheme’s investments.

Gender pension gap: whose problem is it to solve?

It’s fifty years since it became illegal to pay women less than their male counterparts, yet the gender pay gap means women are still paid 15.5% less than men. What’s really worrying is the gap gets even wider when women reach retirement, with an even greater difference in the gender pension gap.

Data could save you millions providing you invest time and money, it really could

Trustee boards and their advisers often love to recount stories about the reduction in liabilities worth millions which they achieved as a result of projects undertaken when working through their long-term strategies. When hearing these tales, I often wonder how many can also recall how their data impacted this success?

Three ways data is driving pensions today

When I first entered the pensions industry, scheme data was offline and comprised of annual summaries of benefit statements sent to members; mainly actives and some past members if they were lucky. This was the domain of the (often bearded) computer department who managed a mainframe computer in a temperature controlled room.

We all have a part to play in the war on scammers

The true scale of the amount lost to pension scams, and the number of victims, is likely to be much higher as victims often don’t realise they have been tricked until many years later. Nicola Parish calls on pension schemes to step up their reporting on scams - warning that a clear understanding of the size of the problem and good quality intelligence is crucial to beating the scourge of scammers.