UK - The Association of British Insurers (ABI) responding to the ongoing Workplace Pension Reforms Review, has said auto-enrolment should only start for people earning more than £10,000.
Acting director general Maggie Craig said auto-enrolment needed to be implemented "without delay" and that the private pension industry would be unable to replace the new National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) if it were closed.
Craig said: "To make sure only those who can afford to save are included, only people earning £10,000 and over should be automatically enrolled. But those earning less should be allowed to opt-in."
She added that employers' pension contributions should be based on basic earnings, rather than a complex formula, which could deter employers from paying into existing schemes and moving toward the easier option of a mandatory contribution level, which would result in diminished savings for the employee.
"As things stand, it is unlikely the private pensions industry could fill the gap if NEST did not go ahead," she said.
"But we look forward to helping employers who want to offer their employees more generous pension arrangements than they can provide through NEST, and to helping the government make automatic enrolment a success."
In other news, Dalton Strategic Partnership (DSP) has appointed Northern Trust to provide custody and fund administration services for the Melchior fund range.
The mandate will also include fund accounting and transfer agency responsibilities, according to Northern Trust.
The range, which manages more than £350m (€426m) of assets, includes long-only funds, hedge funds, segregated portfolios and an investment trust.
Magnus Spence, chief operating officer at DSP, said his company selected Northern Trust due to its ability to support DSP's growth and diversification plans.
Finally, Transport for London (TfL) is tendering for a new actuarial advisor, a position currently held by Towers Watson.
The £5bn TfL Pension Scheme has asked the prospective actuary to advise on the impact of regulatory change, consult with the scheme on recovery plans and assist on the two triennial valuations set for 2012 and 2015 during the six-year contract.
The scheme, which recently appointed JO Hambro, IronBridge and THS Partners as global equity managers, said the deadline for submissions was 10 September.
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