Financial Liverpool - Pensions: hot topics for flaming June

As the summer solstice approaches, a pacy run-through a number of pension hot topics that are bringing both Advisers and Providers out in a cold sweat; including

• Statutory Right to Pension Transfer regulations – are they working?
• The ‘Stronger Nudge to Pensions Guidance’ – too little, too late?
• The state of the State Pension underpayments debacle; and
• Implications for the return of the ‘triple-lock’ – a bumper pay rise for pensioners?

Learning objectives:

1. To appraise how successful the ‘Statutory Right to Transfer’ regulations have been since their introduction on 30 November 2021, with a particular focus on the potential over-use of ‘yellow flags’ and the need to tighten up the definition of ‘overseas assets’ within the regulations themselves;
2. To acknowledge that the ‘Stronger Nudge to Pensions Guidance’ regulatory requirements for Providers and Scheme Trustees take effect from 1 June 2022, and reflect on the government’s rejection of automatic Pension Wise appointments, and whether Pension Wise will have the capacity to deal with an intended surge in demand;
3. To evaluate the scale of the underpayment of State Pensions to pensioners by the Department for Work & Pensions (that overwhelmingly affects female pensioners), and assess what is being done within the DWP to address the issue, in light of a damning report by the Public Accounts Committee; and
4. To assess the financial impact of the substitution of the ‘triple lock’ for State Pension increases with a ‘double lock’ in April 2022, against a backdrop of the highest inflation figure for 30 years and soaring energy, fuel and food prices, and consider the implications of a return of the ‘triple lock’ for April 2023.