Smart Pension and Wahed have partnered on a new advertising campaign, designed to encourage greater diversity in workplace pensions.

The campaign encourages Muslim employers and savers to consider a halal workplace pension to ensure that every saver in the UK has access to good retirement outcomes, following on from the launch of the Smart Pension and Wahed Halal Workplace Pension in February. Announcing the launch of the campaign, Smart noted that one third of Muslim employees don’t have a workplace pension, with the majority (78 per cent) citing concerns around Shariah compliance. Smart chief marketing officer, Dan Barker, said: “British Muslim employers and employees have been missing out on a fair investing landscape for too long, with little choice when it comes to investing their pension. This has left many Muslims in the UK feeling disconnected from financial services as well as their pensions. We hope this campaign resonates with Muslim employers and the UK’s Muslim population and encourages them to consider a halal workplace pension.”

iPensions Group has acquired a portfolio of self-invested personal pension (SIPP) and small self-administered scheme (SSAS) business from Morningstar Wealth Retirement Services Ltd.

As part of this, the group also acquired the associated trust company and taking over as the operator and administrator. The SIPP and SSAS business is a legacy off platform book and features a broad range of invested assets including the interests of the schemes’ members in property. The latest acquisition is part of iPensions Group’s strategy to focus on opportunities to acquire SIPP and SSAS pension businesses that would benefit from the group’s administrative and technical expertise, also following on from the recent acquisition of Edinburgh-based SIPP provider, Forthplus.

PensionBee Group has passed £5bn in assets under administration.

The group confirmed that it also reached 250,000 invested customers in June 2024, driven by a combination of high and consistent customer retention and strong net inflows from new and existing customers. PensionBee CEO, Romi Savova, highlighted this as a "significant milestone" in the group's journey, "as we help to meet the country’s ever greater need for long-term retirement planning and preparedness". "The continued growth of the business in line with our ambitions, demonstrated by assets under administration of £5bn, has been achieved through our prioritisation of delivering excellent customer service, our scalable technology platform and our innovative product designed to meet the needs of our customers," she added.

Phoenix Group has launched a new Caring For Carers initiative.

As part of the Caring for Carers initiative, Phoenix Group will be linking with charities across the UK that focus on caring, including a new partnership with Carers UK. Commenting on the partnership, Carers UK chief executive, Helen Walker, said: "Caring for older, disabled or ill relatives or friends is an issue that affects millions of people every day, in every part of the UK, in households, places of work and in local communities. Yet caring can come as a shock that is often not planned for. With our ageing population this will become increasingly important, not just for carers, but for employers, the economy and society as a whole. That’s what makes this partnership really important and will help to deliver our mission to make life better for carers.” Phoenix Group also highlighted the changes that employers can make to support colleagues that may be carers, encouraging other businesses to follow suit. Read more on the industry’s efforts to support carers here.

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