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The Prime Minister and Chancellor met with business leaders recently and unveiled proposals to give occupational defined pension schemes more flexibility.

Restrictions will be lifted on how well-funded, occupational defined benefit pension funds that are performing well will be able to invest their surplus funds. It is hoped that this will pave the way for future growth across the economy.

Currently, around 75% of such pension schemes are in surplus amounting to £160 billion. However, restrictions have meant that businesses have found it difficult to invest these funds, even when both trustees and sponsors want to do so.

The proposals will allow trustees, if they agree, to share a portion of the scheme surplus with a sponsoring employer. The employer can then choose to invest the funds in its core business and/or provide additional benefits to members of the pension scheme.

Jonathan Lipkin, Director of Policy, Strategy & Innovation at the Investment Association said: “With the right guardrails in place, the government’s proposals could help channel more funding into the economy, by enabling schemes to invest more widely and take on greater risk, while allowing for members to receive an uplift to pension benefits.”

For further information, see: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pension-reforms-to-go-further-to-unlock-billions-to-drive-growth-and-boost-working-peoples-pension-pots

The information provided in this blog is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. As far as we are aware, the content is accurate at time of publication. Torgersens assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in the content or for any actions taken based on the information provided.

About the Author

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Paul Newbold

Partner
After qualifying with KPMG where he gained significant audit experience, Paul joined Torgersens in 1991 and became the firm’s audit partner in 2000. Paul employs his broad range of financial skills to provide commercial and accounting advice to a range of owner-managed businesses in the independent retail, education and professional services sectors. He also has extensive experience dealing with charities, Registered Social Landlords and not-for-profit organisations and co-operatives.   Outside of work, Paul likes to visit Eastern France and South-West German and read novels by David Morrell, Michael Blake and Harper Lee. He also likes watching films, his favourite is The Shawshank Redemption.

To get in touch please e-mail paul.newbold@torgersens.com.

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