The Danish pension provider is concerned that there is an “increasingly apparent absence of a level playing field” between Nest and other auto-enrolment schemes.
Thanks to Money Marketing for this report:
In September the European Commission confirmed lifting the restrictions on Nest - which currently put a cap on annual contributions and ban transfers in and out of the scheme - would not break state aid rules. The DWP launched a legal consultation on the changes, which closed this week. Now: Pensions also raises concerns over the independence of the consultation process. It says: “We have concerns regarding the independence of this team and its degree of separation from the automatic enrolment team within DWP.” And the firm warns lifting Nest’s restrictions is a risk to the health of the market. It says the market was “immediately shifted” when the Government announced it would be lifting the restrictions entirely by 2017. It says: “We believe that by announcing that the restrictions will be lifted in 2017, the competitive market landscape will be shifted immediately as those responsible for selecting a provider will not be influenced by the restrictions. Allowing the transfer restrictions to be lifted as early as October 2015 introduces an accelerated shift in this landscape.” The provider, which is part of Danish pension fund ATP, also suggests it entered the UK market on false presentences. “[We] entered into the UK auto enrolment market place on the understanding that the Government funding received by Nest was accompanied by a restriction in certain activities in order to create a free market,” it says. Now: Pensions chief executive Morten Nilsson told Money Marketing it did not have an issue with the lifting of the restrictions but “about Nest being treated in a different way to the rest of the industry”.
Automatic enrolment being considered in the US
5 November 2014
American states from Connecticut to California are considering creating new state-run automatic enrolment retirement plans for employees who do not currently have access to savings programmes through their employers, similar to the UK’s National Employment Savings Trust. But they are finding that the path to compulsion is far from smooth.
Thanks to Financial News for this report:
While no state has yet implemented the new types of auto-enrolment plans, nearly a dozen have bills pending, or passed, or have established task forces to study their potential. Maryland, Illinois, Wisconsin and Oregon are among the states contemplating such plans.
Sheldon Gamzon, a principal at consultancy PwC, said: “State proposals are very much in their infancy; they’ve got a long way to go before they have much traction.”
The efforts are aimed at helping employees at smaller companies who do not have access to retirement savings programmes through their employer and come amid a heightened focus on retirement savings in America. In this year’s State of the Union address in January, President Barack Obama expressed support for the federal-level My Retirement Account , known as myRA, which is due to be launched by the end of the year. Obama highlighted the fact that about half of full-time and
CIPP Policy News Journal
08/04/2015, Page 343 of 521
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker