Retirement

John Hutton, secretary of state for Work and Pensions, has admitted the new system of personal accounts announced in the pensions white paper will not come with a government guarantee in the event of failure.

Standard Life has reacted angrily to press reports this morning claiming the provider is cutting its IFA support staff by a third as "disingenuous and inaccurate".

Abbey has sold its life business to Resolution for £3.6bn.

The Liberal Democrats have attacked the government's response to the findings of the Parliamentary Ombudsman's report into occupational pensions, while Ros Altmann is planning to launch a judicial review of the case on behalf of the pensioners affected...

In a 47 page report, the DWP denies claims put forward by Ann Abraham, the Parliamentary Ombudsman, that it was guilty of three instances of maladministration, two regarding information provided to consumers and trustees, and the third over its decision...

Ministers from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) plan to meet key stakeholder groups from the industry, employers and trade unions in advance of a new pensions summit on the National Pension Savings Scheme (Npss) to be held next month.

Around 25% of companies named in the FTSE 250 index could in theory pay off their defined benefit (DB) pension deficits within a year using discretionary cashflow, claims research from KPMG.

Adair Turner believes the proposals put forward in the pensions white paper on state reform are a "reasonable compromise", and is pleased the government did not bow to pressure to remove contingent compulsion for employers in its plans for personal accounts....

IFA firm Origen has attacked senior executives in large UK companies for protecting their own final salary pension schemes while closing the same pension arrangements to new staff and denying further accrual of benefits to less senior current employees....

The government would like to see the arrangements for low cost personal accounts to be kept at "arms length" from the state when more details are released in a technical paper scheduled for the Autumn, claims the Minister for Pensions Reform.