Independent Trustee Company Blog

Thursday, August 15, 2013

'Lots of talk but no action to tackle pensions crisis'


Aidan McLoughlin, Group Managing Director of Independent Trustee Company, last week advised that Ireland needs a pensions minister to grapple with the crisis facing the sector.  This issue is further addressed in an article on the Independent.ie website on Thursday August 15th.  Click here to read the full article.

Monday, August 12, 2013

Job Vacancy: Minister for Pensions


Aidan McLoughlin speaks about the need for a dedicated pensions minister in Ireland on RTE Radio 1's 'Morning Ireland'.  

Aidan states "There has been much talk about Ireland emulating the pension regime of other countries, Australia and the UK in particular. Critically, each of those countries has a dedicated pensions minister at a time when reform was required."


Click here to listen to the full interview.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

The Young IBA Croagh Patrick Climb, 2013



Saturday, July 20th, saw over 160 Insurance industry colleagues climb to the top of Croagh Patrick in aid of a very worthy cause; Saint Vincent de Paul charity.  This event was organised by the Young IBA and was a resounding success.  Everyone reached the top and enjoyed scenic panoramic views of Mayo and a great sense of accomplishment.  The sun shined down on the climbers throughout the journey with clear blue skies all around.  Everyone made it back down without any major injuries and met in the pub at the foot of Croagh Patrick to celebrate the achievement.


ITC were proud sponsors of the Young IBA Climb for the fourth consecutive year.  The event is set to raise a significant amount in aid of Saint Vincent de Paul.  Well done to all involved!

www.independent-trustee.com

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Ask Us Any Question


Here at Independent Trustee Company we are always looking to enhance and improve communication with you and your clients.  This is why we have implemented a new Q&A platform to our website; www.independent-trustee.com.  It is called Pubble and it allows you to ask questions in an interactive way and receive immediate responses.  Being able to communicate clearly and effectively with advisors is one of the most important aspects of our business, and while we have a FAQ section on the website, Pubble allows you to get answers to more specific questions through the ITC website. Lots of universities are using this today, however, we are the first in the pension industry to use it.

The benefits of Pubble are as follows:

      1) Enables visitors to ask questions relating to the content on that particular page and find answers
      2) Delivers questions direct to the relavant  ITC staff
      3) Allows visitors to view other questions which have been answered on each page
      4) Ensures that our FAQs are relevant and up to date.

We hope this will change how we interact with our audience while continually enhancing our web site.  The web is being rebuilt around people and ITC want to put you at the centre of our website.  If you have any question you would like to ask us regarding the content of our website or about Pubble please visit www.independent-trustee.com and click on the questions tab.  We look forward to hearing from you and answering all of your questions!


Wednesday, June 26, 2013

ITC to sponsor Young IBA Climb 2013


Independent Trustee Company are delighted to once again support the YIBA annual charity event for the fourth consecutive year. The charity of choice for 2013 is St. Vincent de Paul.


The event will take place on 20th July this year and the challenge once again is Croagh Patrick! All details of accommodation, the online donation page and registry links are available here.

Interested in climbing Croagh Patrick with your industry peers in aid of St. Vincent de Paul? Join the YIBA Committee, broker staff, insurance staff, family, friends and ITC staff on 20th July 2013 as we ascend the Reek followed by some food, drink, music and plenty of craic. No entry fee, no minimum amount to be raised- just turn up, climb and raise as much as you can for St. Vincent de Paul. It is guaranteed to be a great weekend so if you are interested in taking part, or donating to the cause, please click on the above link.


Get involved!

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

What is the Value of a Promise?


 
It is estimated that 90% of defined benefit schemes in Ireland are in deficit and that the pension schemes of 200,000 individuals are in danger of collapse with the new rules regarding funding requirements.  You will most likely see more of your clients coming to you asking what to do next.
The defined benefit scheme was the holy grail of pension schemes for a long time.  You were guaranteed a certain level of pension in retirement based on your years of service and salary.  What you effectively have is a promise and now you must ask yourself what value you can put on a promise from a scheme which is in deficit.  When advising clients who are considering exiting a defined benefit scheme, you must take particular care.  The client is considering giving up what could be a very valuable benefit, if the scheme can deliver on the promise.  However, if there are doubts as to the ability of the scheme to deliver or even survive, you would need to consider whether the client would be better off taking a transfer value now and putting those funds to work for them.

When an individual ceases employment or leaves a company pension scheme, or the company pension scheme is wound up, there are a number of options available to them.  Taking the transfer value to a buy out bond is becoming increasingly popular among clients.  The trustees of the existing company pension scheme will establish a buy out bond in the individual’s name and transfer the value of their benefits to the bond.  The aim is to put the individual in control of their pension benefits.  The buy out bond has fewer restrictions with regards to investments and often more favourable costs than a PRSA.  The buy out bond can also provide greater flexibility when accessing benefits. 

Independent Trustee Company has recently launched their new Buy Out Bond.  To find out more about  ITC’s BOB download our Brochure & Terms and Conditions.

Written by Jennie Faughnan
ITC Consulting

For further information contact our team to discuss:
Michael Keyes (01) 614 8045 / michael.keyes@independent-trustee.com
Sean Mc Loughlin (01) 614 9220 / sean.mcloughlin@independent-trustee.com
Martin Glennon (01) 603 5130 / martin.glennon@independent-trustee.com

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Ignoring the Elephant in the Room



The Social welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013 was announced by the Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton TD on 22nd May 2013.  The main pension provisions of the Bill were:


§  The Pensions Board will change its name to Pensions Authority and its governance is to change.  The Pensions Authority will consist of an independent chairperson appointed by the Minister for Social Protection and 2 ordinary members, one nominated by the Minister for Social Protection and a representative of the Minister for Finance.
 
§  A new Pensions Council will be established.  The Pensions Council will have a purely advisory function.  The Pensions Council will consist of: 

v  A chairperson;

v  A representative of the Minister for Social Protection;

v  The Pensions Regulator;

v  A representative of the Central Bank;

v  A representative of the Department for Public Expenditure and reform; and

v  Up to 8 other members who the Minister for Social Protection considers to have the relevant skills, specialist knowledge, experience or expertise to enable them to carry out their functions under the Pensions Act.

§  The name of the chief executive of the Pensions Board will be changed to the Pensions Regulator and s/he will be a member of the Pensions Council.

§  The Pensions Board will be given the power to wind up a pension scheme where the scheme is underfunded and the trustees and employer are not in a position to adopt a funding proposal, and where the trustees of the scheme fail to comply with a section 50 direction to restructure scheme benefits.

§  The introduction of a provision for an appeal to the High Court on a point of law following such a direction from the Pensions Board, or following a direction from the Pensions Board regarding a Section 50 order to reduce benefits “made other than on application by the trustees”.

While the above changes to the governance and oversight of pensions are largely welcomed, what is disappointing is that the Bill does not include the much promised proposed reform to the priority order rule, i.e. the order in which assets are distributed when a defined benefit pension scheme is in wind-up.  With a deadline of 30 June 2013 for the submission of funding proposals, for many schemes the decision not to address this issue in this Bill would seem to be a missed opportunity to reinstate some fairness between members of defined benefit schemes.   

The reason given by the Minister for not dealing with this issue is the recent Waterford Crystal case in which the EU ruled that the Irish government had failed to implement the EU Directive requiring governments to provide protection for scheme members where the employer was insolvent.  While it is of some relevance, the feeling is that this is just an excuse for the Minister failing to grasp the nettle of pension reform.
 
Written by Niamh Quirke