Skip to main content
The Actuary: The magazine of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries - return to the homepage Logo of The Actuary website
  • Search
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on LinkedIn
  • Visit @TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Visit the website of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Logo of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

Main navigation

  • News
  • Features
    • General Features
    • Interviews
    • Students
    • Opinion
  • Topics
  • Knowledge
    • Business Skills
    • Careers
    • Events
    • Predictions by The Actuary
    • Whitepapers
    • Moody's - Climate Risk Insurers series
    • Webinars
    • Podcasts
  • Jobs
  • IFoA
    • CEO Comment
    • IFoA News
    • People & Social News
    • President Comment
  • Archive
Quick links:
  • Home
  • The Actuary Issues
  • March 2013
03

Regulator maps out next steps for EU pensions overhaul

Open-access content Tuesday 12th March 2013 — updated 5.13pm, Wednesday 29th April 2020

The head of the European pensions regulator has confirmed that further work will be needed to measure the impact of proposed changes to European Union workplace pensions legislation.

2

Gabriel Bernardino, chair of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, told an event in Berlin yesterday that the quantitative impact study his organisation ran last autumn was the 'first step' towards making more pension balance sheets 'more comparable and transparent'.

The study, which was run in nine countries and involved around 100 pension funds, assessed a key aspect of the proposed revision of the EU Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision Directive, the 'holistic balance sheet'. This aims to take into account all aspects of a pension scheme's financial situation, including assets, liabilities and the employer's ability to support the scheme, when it is being valued.

Bernardino explained that the quantitative impact study 'was the first occasion for institutional occupational retirement providers - but also for supervisors - to explore the practical application of the holistic balance sheet. For a number of reasons it is fair to assume that there will be considerable variation in the QIS results'.

'The inconsistencies encountered during this QIS need to be carefully mapped, so that they can be improved upon in future QISs,' he said.

Bernardino explained that the next impact study would be 'considerably less extensive' with regard the number of scenarios it tests. It would also provide better guidance and more simplifications, he said.

'A less elaborate QIS will not only allow for a greater focus on quality - instead of quantity, but also for a greater number of IORPs to participate,' he added.

Preliminary results on the impact study are expected to be sent to the European Commission by the end of this month before EIOPA produces a final report on them by the end of June.

This had been expected to trigger a full legislative proposal from the European Commission on the revision of the IORP Directive.

However, the proposals have attracted opposition from politicians, business groups and other bodies in a number of EU member states. Last December, the CBI claimed meeting capital requirements based on the Solvency II regime being applied to insurers could cost UK businesses an extra £350bn.

This article appeared in our March 2013 issue of The Actuary .
Click here to view this issue

You may also be interested in...

2

MEPs warn IORP overhaul could 'jeopardise' pension investment

The European Commission has been urged not to introduce new capital requirements for pension schemes which could limit the investment potential of funds.
Monday 25th March 2013
Open-access content
2

DC pensions must be refined to produce good outcomes, says OECD

The UK is making good progress towards developing a sustainable defined contribution pension system but must do more to focus on providing adequate outcomes for savers, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said yesterday.
Wednesday 6th March 2013
Open-access content
2

Desmond Smith interview: Duty calls

Sarah Bennett in conversation with Desmond Smith, immediate past-president of the International Actuarial Association
Tuesday 5th March 2013
Open-access content

Variable annuity sales reach record level

Sales of annuities which offer variable levels of payout depending on how they are invested reached a record £1.42bn in the UK last year, Towers Watson revealed today.
Tuesday 12th March 2013
Open-access content

Not shopping for an annuity 'could cost this year's retirees £237m'

Around 200,000 people buying an annuity this year could miss out on a combined retirement income in excess of £200m because of not shopping around for the best deal, MGM Advantage said yesterday.
Wednesday 13th March 2013
Open-access content
ta filler

Limit on council pension fund infrastructure investment doubled

Local authority pension funds will be able to double the amount they can invest in infrastructure projects from the beginning of next month, under plans confirmed by ministers yesterday.
Thursday 7th March 2013
Open-access content

Latest from Global

rdth

Make My Money Matter's Tony Burdon on the practical power of sustainable pensions

Years working in international development showed Tony Burdon, head of Make My Money Matter, that sustainable pensions can harness trillions of pounds to build a better world – at a scale governments and charities can’t. He talks to Travis Elsum
Wednesday 1st March 2023
Open-access content
ULH

Growth of the profession in Zambia

One of only three Fellows in Zambia, Mulenga C Mutati anticipates exciting growth in the country’s actuarial sector
Wednesday 1st February 2023
Open-access content
cj

Natural capital investing

Chris Howells and Andrew Dreaneen discuss how today’s investments in natural capital profit portfolios as well as the planet and humanity
Wednesday 1st February 2023
Open-access content

Latest from Top story (international)

2

Aftermath of Indian cyclone 'could cost insurers $400m'

Insured losses from a cyclone that hit India’s east coast this month could reach $400m, a catastrophe modelling firm has reported.
Wednesday 22nd October 2014
Open-access content
2

UK places ninth in Mercer's global pensions league table

The UK’s pension system is ranked ninth best in the world, according to a global index published by retirement consultants Mercer.
Monday 13th October 2014
Open-access content
2

Towers Watson warns of short-term effects of Scottish Yes vote on insurers

Insurers with large liability-hedging programmes should be thinking through the implications of gilt and swap yield movements in the event of a ‘Yes’ vote for Scottish independence, actuaries Towers Watson warned.
Wednesday 17th September 2014
Open-access content

Latest from March 2013

ta

Number of 'very old' people in England and Wales up 26%

The number of people aged 90 and over increased by 26% between 2002 and 2011, according to figures published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics.
Friday 22nd March 2013
Open-access content
2

Osborne rules out smoothing for pension scheme valuations

Chancellor George Osborne has used his Budget to rule out plans to allow pension schemes to smooth the value of their assets and liabilities over a number of years in funding valuations.
Wednesday 20th March 2013
Open-access content
2

Webb confirms single state pension will be introduced in 2016

Introducing the single state pension a year earlier than planned will net the government an extra £5.5bn in National Insurance revenue and benefit 400,000 women who were hit by an increase in the pension age last year, pensions minister Steve Webb said today.
Tuesday 19th March 2013
Open-access content

Latest from inline_local_link

2

COVID-19 forum for actuaries launched

A forum for actuaries has been launched to help the profession come together and learn how best to respond to the deadly coronavirus sweeping the world.
Wednesday 25th March 2020
Open-access content
2

Travel insurers expect record payouts this year

UK travel insurers expect to pay a record £275m to customers this year as coronavirus grounds flights across the world, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has revealed.
Wednesday 25th March 2020
Open-access content
2

Grim economic forecasts made as countries lockdown

A sharp recession is imminent in the vast majority of developed and emerging economies as the deadly coronavirus forces businesses to shut down across the world.
Tuesday 24th March 2020
Open-access content

Latest from 03

ta

Number of 'very old' people in England and Wales up 26%

The number of people aged 90 and over increased by 26% between 2002 and 2011, according to figures published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics.
Friday 22nd March 2013
Open-access content
2

Osborne rules out smoothing for pension scheme valuations

Chancellor George Osborne has used his Budget to rule out plans to allow pension schemes to smooth the value of their assets and liabilities over a number of years in funding valuations.
Wednesday 20th March 2013
Open-access content
2

Webb confirms single state pension will be introduced in 2016

Introducing the single state pension a year earlier than planned will net the government an extra £5.5bn in National Insurance revenue and benefit 400,000 women who were hit by an increase in the pension age last year, pensions minister Steve Webb said today.
Tuesday 19th March 2013
Open-access content
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Investment Consultant

Scotland / Scotland, Edinburgh / London, England
Up to £70000.00 per annum
Reference
148689

Market Risk Capital Actuary/Quant

London (Central)
£65,000 - £115,000 plus bonus and package
Reference
148688

Experience Analysis Contractor

England
Negotiable
Reference
148687
See all jobs »
 
 
 
 

Sign up to our newsletter

News, jobs and updates

Sign up

Subscribe to The Actuary

Receive the print edition straight to your door

Subscribe
Spread-iPad-slantB-june.png

Topics

  • Data Science
  • Investment
  • Risk & ERM
  • Pensions
  • Environment
  • Soft skills
  • General Insurance
  • Regulation Standards
  • Health care
  • Technology
  • Reinsurance
  • Global
  • Life insurance
​
FOLLOW US
The Actuary on LinkedIn
@TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Facebook: The Actuary Magazine
CONTACT US
The Actuary
Tel: (+44) 020 7880 6200
​

IFoA

About IFoA
Become an actuary
IFoA Events
About membership

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy
Think Green

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to The Actuary Magazine
Contribute

The Actuary Jobs

Actuarial job search
Pensions jobs
General insurance jobs
Solvency II jobs

© 2023 The Actuary. The Actuary is published on behalf of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries by Redactive Publishing Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ